The Peacekeepers
by DizziZilla
Summary: 'Mogami-kun, I have taken the liberty (in light of your recent progress revealed to me in this morning's discussion) of accepting the invitation to audition for 'The Peacekeepers' on your behalf—in hopes that it will help you progress further in the cultivation of this world's most glorious emotion. —Lory Takarada'
1. Chapter 1

'_Skip Beat_!' and its original characters are the property of the brilliant Nakamura Yoshiki

Spoiler alert: This fanfiction branches off after chapter 203 of the original work

(SPOILER! - It's right after she has the discussion with Lory Takarada about being in love with Ren Tsuruga and whether she wants to do anything about it - but nothing Guam related has happened)

* * *

Chapter 1: Scary Beyond All Reason

"What about this one?"

Director Mundy looked up from where he was scrutinizing a file and snorted, picking up a new pile of them to inspect from the box at his feet, dropping them with a heavy '_thump'_ on his desk. _Four boxes down, six more to go…_ He glanced at the clock on the wall, noting that the hour was getting very late. "I only requested that because one of the potentials for another part wanted to play opposite her."

"So you haven't looked at it?"

"I have not," he confirmed, inserting a promotional disk into the player to watch a segment of acting done by a young actress that looked promising. He soon ejected it, not liking what he saw. He tossed the file into one of his many 'reject' piles "I'm not even sure I want that boy—why should I humor him more than I already have?"

"Mm," His friend nodded, sitting down on the edge of Mundy's desk, nearly toppling one of said piles as he opened the neglected file and leafed through it. "I think she's interesting though."

"That so?" Mundy grunted, zipping through another promo disk, not really listening as he mussed his pepper black hair in an effort to stimulate his brain from the outside. He often saw his wife doing that, and it made him curious to see if it actually worked (though he felt like it just left him with his hand in a prime position to tear it out in frustration).

"I've actually had my eye on her for some time."

"That so?" he ejected the disk and inserted another. He wasn't impressed with these girls—they were too afraid to look ugly. It made their acting too superficial…but he also needed someone young for the part. All the actresses he really liked for the part so far were a tad too old to play it.

He had to be picky about this one, especially, since it was the author's favorite character…even more so, since the author also happened to be the aforementioned wife.

Shinkai Seishi chuckled, and Mundy scowled at him. He was still going on about the profile Mundy had been ignoring. "She really made an interesting first impression—she had a fractured leg bone, but she performed the tea ceremony while kneeling on it as if nothing were wrong, and refused to accept medical treatment until the scene was done. I actually had to order her acting partner off the stage before she would break character, after which she promptly fainted."

Mundy jerked the file from his hands and scowled at her picture, not liking that his hopes were rising a little. "She sounds like an insurance nightmare."

Shinkai snorted. "She's a bit eccentric, but very polite and self-effacing—if you don't offend her sense of professionalism. In fact, she didn't resent being replaced because, in her words, 'a person who loses consciousness during a battle has no qualifications for survivorship'."

He chuckled again, remembering something else as he smiled down at the open file in Mundy's hands "She was even angry at herself for being influenced by a very experienced co-star's acting, and she was just a beginner then."

Mundy grunted and rifled through the file, stopping to scan a few notes written by directors that had worked with her. Every one of them seemed to mention something about being pleased by her work ethic. His hopes rose further on the notes about her 'powerful character portrayals'. "Any dance or martial arts history?"

"None that I know of, though it wouldn't surprise me if she did…she has a strange way of moving. It's hard to tell."

Mundy eyed his friend through narrowed eyes. Whatever it was he was remembering, it was apparently funny, and Mundy wondered briefly if his fellow director/friend was just pulling his leg. He put in the demo disk and sat back in his desk chair, stretching his shoulders stiffly as he watched the screen. He could use a break right about now, anyway.

She was playing the part of a daughter of a wealthy family, a black sheep. Her poise was good, he noted aloud, to which Shinkai agreed.

To say this young actress was 'powerful' in her character portrayals was a gross understatement—if Mundy had so sum up his impression of her in only a handful of words, it would be _'scary beyond all reason'_.

That impression of her was taken to a new level upon his introduction to _Box R_'s 'Natsu'. He noted the distinct difference in the bearing of both _Dark Moon_'s 'Mio' and this charismatic high school girl…where the former had been a flawlessly prim and proper heiress, the later was fashionably relaxed, with an enviable cat-walk stride and bearing of a born model. The two were entirely different; in personality, appearance and situation…but that special glint and intensity of aura that no amount of special effects could fabricate convinced Mundy that he was indeed looking at the same girl in both images.

_Either that, or young people these days are making friends in the wrong dimensions…_ This was no longer a break—he was leaning forward again.

He cleared his throat. "She might be able to pull off the _transformation_ well…but what about Kaya's natural state? She needs to be able to pull off a genuinely gentle nature."

Shinkai smiled and reached for the remote, zipping through a few more bullying scenes from the twisted high-school queen. He pushed play again. "I told you, I've kept an eye out for her work."

It was a PV. Mundy recognized the song, an early work of a young musician that was currently taking the music industry in Japan by storm…but that was all he recognized. The scene was of two angels frolicking in a field of flowers, played by a pair of pleasantly attractive actresses. He noted that the taller, playful one did seem to know a bit of ballet, though it wasn't anything fancy—just some pretty near pirouettes around her companion. They did a decent of portraying friendship for one another, which surprised Mundy a little; he was used to PV's being more about looking fashionable and trendy…

He lifted a brow, incredulous as he sat up in his seat and eyed Shinkai, who had moved to sit in one of the chairs Mundy kept for visitors "One of these girls is…?"

"Just watch—you'll see."

Mundy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He could gather the basic plotline easily—forbidden love between the timid angel and a devil, played by the singer. It had certain parallels to the plotline for the character he was looking for…

Was the timid angel Kyoko? His brow wrinkled slightly. She was good in the scene with the other angel, and she did seem genuinely smitten by the demon portrayed by the musician…but, rather than truly timid, she seemed inexperienced, and was relying heavily on her looks…and he was really hoping that the one who showed some hints at dancing background was her.

The screen was filled with the image of the other angel, the playful, dancing one, but her expressions were very different from earlier. Heartbreak, so vivid that it was painful to look at, was in her eyes. She was gushing tears he highly doubted were eye-drops as she approached the devil that was her young friend's lover. The act of violence she engaged in was clearly tearing her apart, making Mundy ponder upon what an angel, a pure and heavenly being, would feel upon having to kill another creature, even an evil one…

He was brought out of his thoughts by what happened next. The devil was dead, the angel was grieving her sin …but something strange was... Mundy felt goose-bumps creep up his arms as the angel slowly let her hands fall from her face.

Shinkai pressed pause, watching Mundy's contemplative expression. "You think she'll do?"

Mundy rubbed at the stubble on his chin, reclaiming the remote to take another look at several scenes. She didn't have a great deal of acting history, but what she did was undeniably powerful. It wasn't often that you met a young actress that was this intense…he had been distracted by her characters several times, momentarily forgetting that it was the _actress_ he should be thinking about. That she had the same effect on him while playing the pre-demon angel was encouraging. And she might have some dancing history, to boot.

In answer to Shinkai's query, he tossed the file into the 'maybe' pile.

"That punk we've been considering might actually know what he's talking about… Now we just have to see if Mary likes her."

* * *

Mary wasn't entirely sure why the receptionists had given her a pair of sunglasses, but being the good sport she was, she wore them as instructed. She had recently been introduced to Lory Takarada, President of LME, and would not put it past the man to have such a thing as a policy that requires all visitors to wear sunglasses on specified days.

It wasn't long before she realized what they were _really_ for when she made the mistake of lowering them to get a better view of the girl in the pink uniform approaching the desk. She didn't know what kind of radiation that particular shade of pink was emitting, but there was only one thing that had the right to be that color—the flames of hell.

She carefully put the sunglasses back in place, catching the pitying look the receptionist sent her way as she pulled the rim of her hat even lower.

"Amamiya, would you direct Edmunds-san here to the LoveME lounge? She has a task for Mogami."

The petite, black-haired girl gave a bow and flashed a cheerful smile at Mary, motioning for her to follow. "This way, Edmunds-san."

Mary fell in step with the atrocity-clad girl, lowering the sunglasses now and again to see if the effect wore off over time. All she got out of the self-inflicted torture was three bright silhouettes of the uniform in various stages of stride printed on the back of her eyelids.

"You play 'Yumika' in _Box R_, right?"

The girl looked at her appreciatively. "Bravo—Most people are so brainwashed by this uniform that they have a hard time telling us LoveME members apart, though the three of us don't look much alike."

_Well…I've been looking at a lot of actors' profiles lately, and her performance with 'Natsu' was memorable, to say the least… _Mary wondered how a girl who could play someone so vicious could smile so sweetly, even in such an abrasive outfit. _The world is full of interesting people, I daresay…_

She smiled and hazarded the question "What exactly _is _LoveME?"

"A section of LME that is devoted to those talents who are missing an emotion needed in order to thrive in the industry," the girl rehearsed before smiling somewhat wryly. "I'm actually from Soft HAT agency, but the President allowed it, so here I am."

"What do you do?" she adjusted the strap of her satchel, resisting the urge to try lowering her sunglasses again. She had the feeling that the color wasn't going to get less jarring so soon.

"Mostly complete tasks for various parties to earn points…" Amamiya trailed off as she swung open the door to a small break room that was just as gaudy and ghastly as her uniform. "But my theory is that we're actually a section formed to be a scapegoat for the rest of the agency."

"A scapegoat?"

"Yeah—we put up with the President's craziest schemes so everybody else doesn't have to."

"That sounds about right," a voice agreed from within. Mary took a hesitant step into the dangerous-looking room to see another black-haired girl sitting at a table inside, wearing the same hideous uniform. This one was tall, with straight, long hair and fine features, along with a scowl. "This department is basically one big running gag to keep him entertained. Who is this?"

Mary allowed Amamiya to introduce her while she stole a few glances to take in the room. There was a row of lockers, painted in that painful shade, and a long table with chairs that were _also_ that color…_does anyone actually sell fabric and paint of this kind of pink? And Why?_

"Kotonami—Edmunds-san, who is here with a task for LoveMe #1," Amamiya gestured toward Mary and then toward the long-haired girl. "Edmunds-san—Kotonami. She's LoveME #2."

If Mary had the feeling that she'd been dropped into another world, that feeling was only intensified as yet another blur of the atrocious color flew past them with a wild cry of '_Moookooo-saaaan!'_ and tried to tackle the long-haired LoveME member.

Who promptly and calmly evaded the attack, soundly whacking the blur with what looked to be a rolled-up screenplay.

"_Ehhh_~" The blur turned out to be a spritely young thing with near-orange hair, bizarrely impeccable posture, and a very expressive and pitiful wounded pout "Just one hug wouldn't hurt, would it, Moko-san? I've had a hard day…"

"Yeah?" Despite the aloof attitude, the imperious Kotonami-san waited for the girl to explain while Mary wondered if 'hug' was some kind of code word for something violent in LoveME language—whatever the girl had been trying to do, it certainly didn't look like it wouldn't leave a mark.

"I had a meeting with the President first thing this morning," the girl reported in monotone as she deadpanned, startling Mary with the dark stormy gloom that was gathering around her.

Both Kotonami and Amamiya flinched, looking as though they'd just tasted something bitter. Then the long-haired girl stiffened.

"Oi—are your eyes swollen?"

The girl with the orange hair blinked, the gloom evaporating as she gave an innocent smile. "Are they?"

Either Kotonami wasn't a fan of smiles, or that smile was not so innocent as it seemed—as soon as it appeared, the long-haired LoveME member paled significantly, looking as though certain doom had just knocked on her door with his friend the Reaper. Mary took an unconscious step back as the girl let out a massive sigh of resignation.

"My place, six o'clock. I know your schedule is open for the rest of the day, so no 'buts'. Prepare to spill—" the tall girl turned to Mary, who resisted the urge to hide. "—But right now, you have a visitor."

Mary blinked, looking down at the girl on the floor in surprise, wondering if she had misunderstood Kotonami. She was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the conversation as it was. "…You are Mogami?"

The girl blinked as she seemed to realize for the first time that someone she didn't know was privy to their mysterious exchange. Her smile turned somewhat embarrassed. "Yes, Ma'am. What can I do for you?"

Mary was not the only one that blinked at that answer.

"Wait a minute—you speak English?!" Both Kotonami and Amamiya were looking at the girl as if she'd suddenly revealed that she had the ability to fly.

Mogami stiffened, and then paled, holding both of her cheeks in horror as she gazed at Mary.

"Was I wrong? It's just, your accent, I thought—" the girl's eyes widened further, and Mary practically leapt out of her skin when the child threw herself face-first onto the floor in a perfectly executed dogeza. "Please forgive my arrogance!"

"_Oi_!" Kotonami lunged forward, dragging her eccentric LoveME senior off the floor, as Mary struggled to understand what it was the girl had spouted so energetically "Nobody said you were wrong—would you stop looking for excuses to degrade yourself? You're embarrassing me!"

Mary decided that it was a good time to clear up any misunderstandings, and hopefully all the panicked rushing that was making it difficult for her to understand (since she actually was a native English speaker, and wasn't wonderfully fluent in Japanese) "You are right… though Mundy—my husband—says I should stick to working on my Japanese as often as I can…. Your English is very nice on the ears, by the way—where did you learn?"

For a moment, it looked as though that was a question the girl didn't want to hear, but she shook the expression away and smiled. "I used to work at an inn that English-speaking tourists frequented—it gave me the chance to put the English I learned in school to practical use."

Kotonami grumbled something along the lines of '_best friends should be the first to know this stuff…'_ and marched out the door in a huff, shouting behind her a reminder for their appointment, followed by Amamiya, who made her apologies and rushed off to answer her vibrating phone. Mary was left alone with LoveME #1, whose eyes seemed to be all aglitter over something as she stared off into space.

…_she's a bit…odd. Then again, many brilliant artists are…_Mary found herself smiling a little. She liked odd people—they were interesting (though she preferred talking to them in a calm setting, one-on-one).

Mary cleared her throat, effectively bringing the dreaming girl back into the present. Mogami blinked a few times, and then seemed to remember that she was not alone. She bowed, slightly flushed with embarrassment.

"I am Kyoko Mogami, of the LoveME division—pleased to meet you."

Mary imitated the motion, with a friendly smile of her own, though somewhat less immaculately. "I am Mary Edmunds—likewise."

They both straightened, and Mogami gave a very professional smile. "You have a task for me, Edmunds-san?"

Mary handed her a handwritten note Lory Takarada had given her, absently pondering on what kind of training the girl had to behave so professionally at such a young age. She found herself feeling a little envious.

'_Mogami-kun,_

_'I have taken the liberty (in light of your recent progress revealed to me in this morning's discussion) of accepting the invitation to audition for 'The Peacekeepers' on your behalf—in hopes that it will help you progress further in the cultivation of this world's most glorious emotion._

_'—Lory Takarada'_

Now, Mary was not a snoop—so the contents of this note were a complete mystery to her…and seemed to grow more mysterious due to Mogami's reaction. The girl had paled considerably, to the point of almost turning blue, and her hands were beginning to tremble slightly.

"…_ 'The Peacekeepers'?"_

"Oh!" Mary shook herself of speculations and fished through her bursting satchel as she sent a few worried glances at the trembling girl. _I'm sure I put it here this morning…Ah! "_Here, Mogami-san—the parts of the script that we'll go over in the audition in two weeks…"

The look on the girl's face was so apprehensive as she reached out to take the offered booklet that Mary wondered if she ought to be offended. As it was, she was too busy being curious to feel such a thing (though she was still a little worried). What had Lory written in that note? And why would it make the girl react this way?

Mary excused herself hesitantly, wondering if she should give the girl some space to reign in her emotions while she called Lory for an explanation.

"Mary! How did it go?"

"What did you write in that note? She's turning blue!"

"Really? That's peculiar…" Lory's deep voice sounded slightly baffled, as if he couldn't possibly imagine his note giving anyone the grief it was giving that child. Then his voice took on a tone of humored exasperation "Well…I suppose I can't expect her to change her convictions that quickly, after all… Just give her some time, Mary—she'll be as excited about it as we are soon enough!"

* * *

[I'm still rather new to this—but if I keep chickening out, I won't be able to get any better. I welcome any constructive criticism! Feel free to tell me if you think any of the original characters are behaving contrary to their nature, if any of my own characters are inconsistent, or if my writing style is in any way confusing or irritating. The same if I butcher any cultural details—I am by no means an expert and I don't want to offend anyone. Thank you for reading!]


	2. Not Bullies and Ominous Itches

_'Skip Beat!_' and its original characters are the property of the brilliant Nakamura Yoshiki (I highly recommend it—it's so much fun! …and this fanfiction will make a lot more sense if you are familiar with the original, too)

* * *

Chapter 2: Not Bullies and Ominous Itches

It took Kanae Kotonami a moment or two to decide if she actually wanted to let the creature on her doorstep into her home or not. Once again, the bizarre, unnatural phenomenon that was so uniquely Kyoko's was occurring—the air around her was thick, dark, and _heavy_—giving Kanae goose-bumps and the urge to slam the door, latch down all the locks, and barricade herself in the closet. It was only the knowledge that her being in such a state meant she was emotionally troubled that kept Kanae rooted to the spot.

_What I put up with for this girl…_

"What is it _now_?"

A hand reached out of the dark, roiling mass of energy, with what looked like a thin script.

"My newest LoveME job."

Kanae took the script and gave Kyoko Mogami a wide birth as the girl _oozed_ into her apartment and deposited herself lifelessly on the floor by Kanae's coffee table, laying her head on the glass. She looked as if her world had come to an end. Kanae eyed her for a moment, once again wondering how she had ever been roped into caring about such a weirdo, before opening the script and leafing through it rapidly. She set it down on the table and sank into a seat, taking the time to process the data she had just absorbed.

"…and your problem is…?"

Kyoko lifted her head, a slight glimmer of hope in her eyes. As the fog subsided a bit, allowing Kanae to see what she was wearing. _Did she come straight from the meeting with that woman without changing out of that horrid uniform?_

"How bad is it?"

Kanae blinked "You mean you haven't read it yet?"

The girl shook her head.

Kanae rolled her eyes and sighed, standing up to walk towards the kitchenette. She already had the things out for making tea, since she was expecting Kyoko to come by later on. "Then what are you so upset about?"

"But…the President said it would help me cultivate my disease!"

Kanae tilted her head, watching the panicking Kyoko with contemplative eyes as she put the water on to boil. Kyoko was always speaking in her own language as if everyone understood her warped thought patterns—this wasn't anything new.

_What would this idiot see as a disease_…?

She stiffened, hand still frozen on the stove dial.

If this was what she thought it was… then there was only one name that came to mind.

She turned slowly, her eyes narrowed as she studied her friend's face for her reaction. "It's Tsuruga, isn't it?"

_Bingo. That stubborn, lovesick fool has finally made a dent on LoveME's #1_… She contemplated Kyoko's suspiciously blank, frozen face thoughtfully. She couldn't really begrudge the poor man his victory—he had worked hard for it—but she certainly wasn't going to lend a hand. If he wanted to take up more space in Kyoko's heart, he was going to have to earn it all by himself.

"Anyway—" Kanae nodded toward the script on the table. "—aside from it apparently having something to do with romance, I think this role is perfect for you."

Kyoko blinked, expression finally leaking back into her stiff features. "What?"

Kanae could understand her confusion. She probably thought she'd been oh-so-secretive about her feelings, but Kanae had seen this coming for a while. The only thing that surprised her was that Kyoko had become aware of it herself. She leaned with her back against the counter and folded her arms over her chest.

_I need to up my game if I'm going to keep my position as Best Friend….and as her rival in the industry_…it was a seriously good part, in a new upcoming series with world-class director and writer, as well as amazing producers. If Kyoko got the part, she'd be far ahead of Kanae. "It's not a bully role."

"… …WHAT?!"

Kyoko's eyes had flared wide. There was a flurry of pages as she practically tore open the script to see for herself.

"They probably were attracted to you because the main character has moments where she's scary—but other than that, she's practically an angel. It's the perfect role to show them what you can do," Kanae continued, repressing a triumphant smirk as thoughts of Ren Tsuruga were blasted from her best friend's mind. Kyoko was standing now, script in hand as she read furiously. "If you make a good enough impression playing her while she _isn't_ being scary, you're bound to get more offers for non-bully roles—now, would you get out of that uniform? It's clashing with my furniture."

Kyoko spent the rest of the afternoon devouring the audition pamphlet and taking notes for the construction of her character while chatting animatedly about it with Kanae over pizza (Kanae made sure to inform her that such caloric feasting was a great sacrifice on her part and that she should be grateful).

"She's….She's… _nice_, Moko-san…" Kyoko muttered.

"And?"

"Well…" Kyoko seemed to be struggling with something. She had her notes sprawled out over the coffee table, and was staring at the small script with a puzzled expression as she stirred her tea absently. "You know…._decent_."

"No stagnating hatreds or sadistic streaks?" Kanae offered, taking another bite of her third piece of pizza, wishing that she had stopped at the first.

"…Yeah."

"Stop pinching yourself—you aren't dreaming," she leaned back into her armchair again scowling at the unsightly red marks that were already forming on the idiot's face.

"I'm going to need dance lessons…"

She nodded, setting her piece of pizza down on her plate and getting up to make herself another cup of tea "You can arrange that with LME."

"I'll have to research blindness and how it affects her habits and lifestyle…"

"That makes sense."

"…I have to tell Tsu—" Kyoko blinked, and blanched. "…er…_Maria_. I should tell Maria."

Kanae rolled her eyes. Maybe now was a good time to address the first issue. Despite herself, she was feeling curious about how Kyoko was going to handle her recently discovered feelings for the tall actor. She studied the girl as she retrieved the tea from the cupboard.

"Why don't you want to tell him?"

Kyoko gave her a look that clearly said 'who are you and what have you done with my best friend?'

"Just because I have a disease doesn't mean I should _encourage_ it."

For a moment, Kanae felt sorry for the poor guy. She shook her head as she filled the kettle.

_Just making dents isn't enough to knock out LoveME #1—she'll fight you tooth and nail until the last bell sounds_.

* * *

Tsuruga Ren turned his head, and then remembered.

_That's right—Mogami isn't here…_ he sighed irritably for what seemed to be the hundredth time, making the actor nearest him squirm. He was in his disguise as the ever intimidating and ill-tempered Cain Heel again, on set for the filming of 'Tragic Marker', waiting for whatever hubbub that was distracting the Director to die down so they could get back to work.

He eyed the empty spot where 'Setsu' usually stood next to him. Exams were coming up, so the President told Mogami to take some time off from her role as Cain Heel's little sister to focus on studying.

_That voice didn't really sound like Mogami's, anyway. It sounded more like the other LoveME member…Kotonami…? And it was in Japanese, anyway. Setsu uses English when speaking to Cain…_

He leaned against the wall and scowled down at his boots. This was going to be a hard week.

"I'm sorry for the hold up, everyone."

Cain continued to glare at his boots as the Director re-entered the room and made his apologies.

"Unfortunately, our lead actress, Manaka-chan, has been in a small accident, resulting in a sprain—we'll do what scenes we can without her, but we'll have to wait to film the rest until the cast can be removed and she's completed basic physical therapy… we're estimating that it could take four to five weeks."

_Four to five weeks. By then, Mogami's exams should be over…that should be a long enough break, shouldn't it?_

He knew the girl needed time away from him for a bit. He hoped it wouldn't talke that long to overcome whatever awkwardness she was feeling around him after 'the incident'. Then again, Mogami was hard to gauge. She could be fine tomorrow, or she could keep turning blue whenever she saw him indefinitely.

Just the thought made his sour frame of mind twice as bad as it was a moment ago. His squirmy neighbor finally lost his nerve and fled for cover as Cain Heel pushed off the wall and strode away_. I'll have to figure out something if that's the case—I don't think my heart can handle that reaction more than a few times before I end up doing something stupid_…

* * *

Yukihito Yashiro hummed to himself cheerfully. Ren's schedule suddenly had several open spots for the next few weeks, and he knew just what he wanted to do with that time…

"I know what you're thinking—but forget about it," Ren interrupted shortly. "You saw what happened when she saw me yesterday. The last thing she wants is to see me again anytime soon."

It was shameful that a full-grown man such as him could make such a ridiculous face, but Yashiro did it. The exaggerated pout threw his whole 'professional' appearance right out the car window.

"Don't sulk, Yashiro." Ren sighed irritably. "I can go a few weeks without seeing Mogami—she's not a drug."

_So you say, Ren_, Yashiro thought to himself as he gazed out the window glumly, _but you're mood seems to get worse by the minute… if this goes on too much longer, somebody's going to end up in the hospital, and it won't be you..._

* * *

When Kyoko woke up the next morning, there were three unmarked messages on her mobile (new—the other one was broken at the beginning of 'that' incident while acting as Setsu with Cain—Kyoko shivered violently as her grudge brigade set to work throwing away the dangerous images, allowing her to re-focus on the issue at hand).

By the time marking on them, they arrived at 11:59pm the night before.

_~1~_

_All living things have spirits._

_Some places and things also contain spiritual energy._

_Not all spiritual energy is the same._

_~2~_

_You'll have to figure out the rest on your own._

_Don't flirt with that lion—he's dangerous._

_I'll be seeing you soon._

_~3~_

_Happy White Day, Kyoko_

The first message struck her as kind of random. The second message was a little worrisome (the 'I'll be seeing you soon' bit was kinda creepy…and what was this about lions?) And the third message was downright alarming.

White Day was the twin sister of Vain Day {Valentines}, after all—they were a pair that would forever live in infamy as far as anyone sane was concerned.

Then again, it could be that the last message was not from the sender of the first and second. She received a lot of flowers and notes in return for the friendly Vain Day chocolates she gave out this year, so maybe it was just a last-minute message from someone who forgot to sign it?

Just thinking about Vain Day soured her mood considerably. She glared at her reflection as she brushed her teeth, her mind reliving the trauma. There was that blasted bait-siphoning incident with Sho. A vein popped in her forehead as she scrubbed the inside of her mouth vigorously with the brush, as if to banish any leftover germs that might be lingering from the incident. And then there was that thing that happened _after_ that…

She spit the toothpaste suds from her mouth and rinsed it out, avoiding looking at her reflection for fear of what she would see. After a moment, she straightened, remembering how the President had told her not to look away.

_For the sake of becoming a first-rate actress_… she lifted her eyes. …_I must face the beast—see it, understand it, and learn from it_…

She flinched at her reflection. The traitorous color her cheeks were tinted, the pathetic softness in her weak-looking, lonely eyes.

'…_since you aim to become a first-rate actress, there is not a single thing in your life that will become useless—even if it is not at all the type of experience that other people will envy_…'

She blinked at herself slowly as she tried to fix her expression with her hands, reflecting on the President's words, and feeling somewhat calmer as she gazed at her own rebellious image. …_It isn't useless. My disease, my self-pity and self-loathing, and even this—how hard it is to look at myself honestly…none of it is useless. Someday, I'll be able to use it to make vivid characters that ring true_…

She tilted her head, another facet coming to mind. _This feeling—that there is a purpose in my pain, that it will benefit me somehow—is kind of comforting…and empowering._

_I should use this for a character in the future, too_…

She glanced over at the audition pamphlet lying out on the table, at the clock, and then back.

_Speaking of which_…

She tucked the pamphlet into her bag, along with her notes and an extra pen, before dashing out the door.

On her way to school, it occurred to her that she might have forgotten something important, but since the nature of the forgotten thing refused to reveal itself, she proceeded to the school with the itchy feeling shoved to the back of her mind to stew over later.

* * *

Miles away an abominable creature rolled over in his coffin.

[To all who provided feedback: Thank you for your support! I was really tickled pink by your encouragement - seriously, it means a lot. Thank you!]


	3. Tricks and Thought Processing

[To Songhi: Thank you so much for pointing those flaws out—I'd send you a message, but there wasn't an option for it on your reviews…anyway, it was very helpful, and I tried to fix the problems in the previous chapters (it would be shameless of me to ask you to read it again for me…but if you have the time and interest, I'd love to hear whether it has improved…But please don't if it is an inconvenience! I'm grateful either way, and will try to keep those things in mind for the future! Thank you for helping me grow!)]

* * *

Once again, _'Skip Beat!'_ and its original characters are the property of the talented Nakamura Yoshiki

Chapter 3: Tricks and Thought Processing

Kyoko was having a difficult time focusing on her schoolwork.

Now that the initial excitement over having a non-bully role had worn off, she was beginning to feel something else.

_…ostracized and bullied as a child due to her quiet nature and spiritual senses… only friends were her elder sister (by two years), her priestess great-aunt (who raised her at their ancestral shrine while her parents traveled with her musically talented elder sister) …and the feared 'Demon of the Mountain' she calls 'Aki' (whom she met when abandoned in the mountains by her classmates …she progressively becomes blind over the next year because of a fall she took during that incident) …when her sister developed heart disease she made a deal with 'Aki' to save her sister's life in exchange for her own… was practically disowned by her parents and great-aunt when she became the vessel for 'Aki's' heart..._

Somehow, despite this being the long-awaited chance to play a new kind of character… Kyoko was finding it a bit difficult to imagine enjoying this role—sure, the girl was admirable in various ways, but it seemed like she was also very unfortunate. To top it all off, she was described as being '_gentle'_ and ...'_loving'._

_This girl…she seems like… …a real selfless idiot._

She shook herself violently. If she kept this frame of mind, she'd have a hard time making herself play the role.

If she was more alert, she might have noticed that Mimori was giving her a glare that could kill. If she were paying attention, she might have noticed that the push to leave the school building after the bell ring was particularly loud and congested. If she were sharper, she would have remembered that her worst enemy had lain in wait in that spot before…

But she realized none of this until it was much too late.

"You're going to run into something if you don't watch where you're walking, Kyoko."

She froze, staring hard at the script in her hands. After a moment, she started forward again, hoping that she was hearing things.

No such luck.

"_Oi! I know you heard me_!" The detestable voice hissed in irritation. A hand snagged her elbow.

"What do you want?" she hissed back, jerking her elbow free, stubbornly refusing to look up from the audition pamphlet. "I'm busy. No time to deal with nightmarish hallucinations."

"What hallucination?" he asked snidely, snatching it from her hands and dangling it out of her reach. "I'd like to know how many hallucinations you've had that are as godly as me."

She scowled at his self-satisfied smirk, and suddenly became aware of the intense laser-beams being sent her way by all the suspicious, jealous eyes watching them from a distance. Shotaro was wearing a lousy excuse for a disguise (basically, those fashionable mild-gothic styled clothes with a trench-coat and hat added)—if she didn't neutralize the situation soon, her school life would be pure torture from now on. She changed her scowl to an over-bright smile.

"Oh! Fuwa-san—I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you!" she squealed, her voice cheery, peppy, and loud. She was using the same personality that she had tried to disguise herself with during the 'Prisoner' project. "It's so _sweet_ of you to greet me just because I acted in one of your PV's before —are you here to see Mimori-san?"

"An audition?" He asked, ignoring her efforts to avert social disaster as he read the cover of the script. "For a television series_?_"

She bridled at the smug, derisive look he gave her, but smothered the burning desire to smack it off his face. She was in hot water already as it was, what with all the phones that were taking pictures around them. She only hoped that her miraculous (and kind of frustrating) ability to look nameless would save her from the hatred of the nation's women as she hunched her shoulders and tried not to face any of the cameras directly.

"You're trying real hard, ne?" he snorted, flipping through the thin booklet and eyeing her scrupulous notes and markings. She glared up at him, bracing herself for the snide-ness to come. "The only reason an unappealing, no-talent bumpkin like you has gotten this far is because the freakishly evil personality you have happened to impress a few lousy directors, but by all means, keep trying—I'll enjoy watching you embarrass yourself."

_Curse this Cockroach! _She roared internally, her eager grudge brigade roaring to life about her. _Is there _anything_ I can do to throw him off his high horse? Anything that won't backfire on me?!_

She blinked. Thinking back on it, he'd never really handled her tears well… it probably wouldn't work, since he was a heartless *_bleepard*_, but it _might_ surprise him enough to give her a chance to make her escape…there was no way in hell she was going to let herself get dragged off somewhere again!

'_Alright!' _Her grudges rallied. '_Desperate times call for desperate measures! Think of something that will make you cry!'_

_'Chopping onions!'_ one suggested.

_'A flat tire on our escape vehicle!' _added another.

_'Moko-san never talking to you again!'_

That was all it took. The thought of Moko-san abandoning their friendship had Kyoko's eyes watering in a flash, and tears were streaming down her horrified face after the first blink.

"O-Oi—! …_Are you ser_…?!"

Just as she hoped, Sho's arms fell slightly and he seized up stupidly, just like he always had when she cried as a kid. She lunged forward, snatching the script, and booked it through the crowd, her blurry vision making it a little difficult to see properly.

"Have fun with Mimori-san!" she shouted over her shoulder, her voice slightly distorted by a sob.

She leapt onto her bike (which thankfully did _not _have a flat tire) and roared away with the force of ten tornados.

_"Mookoooo-saaaaan! Pleeeeeease dooon't haaaatteee meeeee!"_

* * *

_That stupid *BLEEPETTE*!_

Sho Fuwa stood in the wake of the whirlwind that was Kyoko's escape, still numb with shock that she would use such a low technique on him—he hadn't even gotten the chance to confront her about not answering his calls, or, more importantly, warn her not to trust that _*bleepard*_ Tsuruga's nice-guy act!

The mass of schoolgirls finally converged, distracting him momentarily. He gave his trademark smirk and basked in their fawning (though pretending to be unaffected and calm), his irritation soothed a little by their fitting reactions to his smashing good looks and charisma.

He managed to untangle himself eventually, and climbed back into the car waiting for him at the gate, shaking off all the cards with names and phone numbers the girls had tucked into the folds of his clothes and sweeping them off the leather seats to the floor of the car, where hundreds more were hiding the carpet already; a testament to his awesomeness.

_Damn that woman—pulling a dirty stunt like that…_

The problem was, he _knew_ Kyoko—well enough to recognize when she was seriously upset…and those tears back there were real.

_Damn!_

* * *

"_Mooookoooo-saaaaan!" _Kyoko thrust open the door to the LoveME lounge, and froze, thoughts of Kotonami giving her the cold shoulder temporarily derailed.

"…Edmunds-san?"

The woman sitting in the seat at the LoveME lounge's table looked up and smiled warmly. "Mogami-san—you're here."

Kyoko collected herself and bowed. "What can I do for you this afternoon, Ms. Edmunds?"

The woman stood and gestured to the seat across from her. "Won't you sit with me? I wanted to talk to you a little about the role you'll be auditioning for."

Kyoko let her bag slip from her shoulder to the floor as she walked obediently over to sit in the offered seat. She studied the woman furtively—she was probably middle-aged, had pretty, curly brown hair, and wore gray dress-slacks and a pretty, multicolored silk top with a matching gray jacket over it. She also wore a quirky looking hat that came down around her ears and was slightly frayed at the edges… her shoulder satchel seemed to be made of the same denim-like material, and had similar wear to it.

Her brown eyes were bright and alive, like she was excited about something, and Kyoko found herself secretly hoping that there was a mistake in the casting, that the part she was actually to audition for was the part of a helpful fairy or the benevolent, heroic handmaiden of a princess. She leaned forward, ready to be enlightened.

"So, first off—what do you think of Kaya?"

_Or not…_ Kyoko put on her professional smile to hide her disappointment as she tried to decide whether to be blunt or lie. The way Ms. Edmunds' eyes were glittering made it very difficult to drop the bomb.

"Tell me honestly."

_Courage, Kyoko!_ She righted her posture and took a deep breath.

_"_She strikes me as a very unfortunate person."

"And?"

"A fool."

"What makes you say that?"

Ms. Edmund's didn't seem disappointed in the least—just curious. Kyoko decided that while she was being brave, she might as well be brutal and get it over with. She took a deep breath.

"Because she was bullied and shunned all her life, probably called a liar on top of it all because of her ability to see spirits, and then she lost her sight because of a cruel prank, is resented by her parents when her sister gets sick (which was in no way her fault), gave up everything for that sister (who secretly hadn't really believed she could see spirits), was disowned by the family she sacrificed so much for, and has to live at the mercy of a demon until he decides to kill her! And to top it off, she has to endure slowly turning into a monster because of the demon's heart she carries! …And even _WORSE,_ probably falls in love with him at some point!"

She gasped for air and glowered, unamused at the shocked look on Ms. Edmunds' face.

_How nice, to reach adulthood without being disillusioned about love… _She scowled at the pink everywhere that was assaulting her eyes. It seemed like it was particularly abrasive today. _…Maybe love is only out to get ME…nobody else seems to comprehend what a tragic and merciless curse that horrid, stupefying stuff is… _"I think the fact that she can put up with all that—without even getting upset about it—makes her seem like she's lacking in common sense and human nature," she concluded, reigning in the gloom in an effort to spare the poor woman from having to contemplate the horrors of said emotion. Ignorance was bliss, apparently.

"Where does it say that she doesn't get upset?" Ms. Edmunds asked curiously, not at all put off by Kyoko's ill humor. Rather, she looked fascinated, which was making Kyoko feel suddenly very self-conscious.

"Well…" Kyoko squinted in confusion and stared hard at the script (which was still fisted in her hand from the altercation with Shotaro) and tried to remember if it ever actually _had_ said that "…it says that she's 'gentle' and 'loving'…"

Ms. Edmunds smiled, and Kyoko realized that though she didn't look particularly outstanding in any way, and though her demeanor was calm and collected, her brown eyes had a certain intensity to them that lent her a strange kind of charisma.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Mogami-san."

Kyoko blinked. Was this woman telling her she was _glad_ that Kyoko disliked her character? "Pardon?"

"It means you have the temperament to figure Kaya out," the woman stood, sliding her satchel strap up to its place on her shoulder. "Bring a Kaya to the audition that you are passionate about, and you just might get the part."

Startled, Kyoko remained frozen in her seat as Ms. Edmunds disappeared out the door. When the woman stuck her head back in a moment later, she was still sitting in the same place, staring at the previously occupied seat with a look of puzzlement on her face.

"Oh, and Mogami-san…" Kyoko looked up, expression still frozen in puzzlement as Ms. Edmunds smiled warmly at her "Being 'gentle' and 'loving' doesn't automatically make you a foolish victim—there are lots of people with terrifying potential that are that way because they prefer it to the alternative."

* * *

Kanae Kotonami entered the LoveME lounge hesitantly, uncertain as to whether Kyoko had arrived before her or not. She needn't have worried. Although Kyoko was indeed in the lounge—her mind was in a world of its own.

LoveME #2 studied her strange friend as she quietly opened her hideous pink locker and donned the cursed overalls. After another moment, she closed the locker and leaned against it, her brow furrowing.

_Does this idiot have any idea how eccentric she is?_

Watching Kyoko process her ideas and thoughts was like watching one of those machines that does funny things when you put your coins in (which was a complete waste of money, in her opinion). Every time she got a new idea, she would change seats around the table and start some knew random activity, punctuated by a new mood.

One minute she was sorting invisible things on the table, and then she started glaring at the ceiling tiles irritably while twitching her nose, looking as if she were trying not to sneer. After stiffening for a few tense moments, she flipped out her phone and started furiously pushing buttons.

Having found whatever it was she was looking for as she had climbed (yes, _climbed)_ to the next seat over, she set the open phone down on the table and started spinning it absently—tilting her head this way and that, resting her ear to the wooden surface of the table as if hoping that it would speak to her…before her eyes lit up and she started scribbling something furiously in a notebook she pulled from her purse after having pounced on it (as if the poor thing were going to try to make a run for it).

Kanae took a seat, wondering just how long it would take before the girl realized that she wasn't alone.

A little to her chagrin, it never happened. Shortly after she took her seat, Kyoko leapt up from where she was huddled, smacking both of her cheeks with an odd, fierce glint in her eyes, and dashed from the room without so much as a backward glance. Kanae sighed.

_Well…If that idiot suddenly stopped being weird, I'd be worried._

* * *

[this feels kind of embarrassing to admit…but I'd like to get better at writing with wit. I love reading things that make me laugh, and I'd like to be able to write things that make other people laugh… does anyone have suggestions, or ideas of where to go to learn how to write like that? Oh! And if you're confused about the "_bleep_ lingo", it's just my way of being able to write insults without actually having to use real insulting language (if that makes any kind of sense)... I'll be using them now and then (especially with the Heel siblings, etc.) If they are too annoying, please let me know! Thank you for reading!]

[To Songhi: Did I do alright here? Kyoko is often rather oblivious to her surroundings, so I wasn't sure how far to describe things... Again, thank you so much for pointing that out to me. I'll try to improve my future writings as well]

[To all who commented: Thank you so much for your support. I feel empowered! I can do this!]


	4. Character Conundrums and Sho-roaches

[To Deets1: Thank you for the comments and encouragement. I'm glad you think I'm doing alright on the humor—I have been trying (but things always sound significantly less funny if you know someone is trying to be funny, so forget I said that) and I hope I continue to do alright. Feel free to tell me if anything doesn't work—and I do intend to keep the bleep lingo reserved for the more offensive insults, so I'm glad you approve of them for that purpose (I was kinda worried that people would think I was being an idiot). Again, thank you for your feedback—it means a lot]

[Oh! Mimori played the other angel in the PV—that's why I said she was relying on her looks too much and was more inexperienced that timid (since Mimori isn't an actor…she's a model?{is that right? Or am I just making stuff up?}).]

[Okay—sorry for rambling! I'm ready to write now!]

* * *

_'Skip Beat!'_ and its original characters are the property of Yoshiki Nakamura

Chapter 4: Character Conundrums and Sho-roaches

"SAWARA-KUN!" the resonant, theatrical voice interrupted what was otherwise a very peaceful afternoon at the LME talent division with its thunderous cry for the head of the division's attention. Along with it came an explosion of sound and colorful acrobats, who brought with _them_ no shortage of confetti and streamers.

Sawara Takenori lifted his head from his paperwork somewhat wearily, eyeing the figures in colorful spandex that were performing gymnastics on the office furniture as confetti settled on his hair and shoulders, along with a few curly ribbons. Apparently today's theme was the circus. The President, being the man he was, never did anything by halves—he'd hired an entire circus troupe to compliment his ringmaster costume. "Yes, President?"

"Where is our beloved Mogami-kun?"

"Mogami-san is currently—"

"Is someone looking for me?"

_Speak of the devil, and she shall appear…_

LoveME #1 stood in the doorway, watching the nearby dogs (who happened to be dressed in lion and tiger costumes) jump through a hoop for their trainer.

"Mogami-kun! Excellent timing—I have a proposition for you!" The President boomed with his usual theatric enthusiasm, tipping his top hat and swishing his cape to the side to reveal a chair that hadn't been there before.

Stiffly, Mogami stepped forward and rigidly sank into the offered seat with an apprehensive expression, almost as if she expected him to perform some kind of trick that might involve her disappearing or being cut in half.

Lory Takarada sat grandly on the edge of Sawara's desk and folded his arms over his chest, his expression becoming severe in a manner befitting his ever-present dramatic flair.

"Tell me, Mogami-kun—have you accepted your newest LoveME task?"

The girl nodded solemnly.

"And are you prepared to play the part of Kaya with all the love and passion you possess?"

The girl blanched for a moment, going rigid again, before her eyes hardened.

"I will put my whole heart and soul into this role, President."

Sawara blinked, a little surprised that the President's question hadn't set LoveME #1 on a rampage. The way they were speaking and looking at each other made him feel like he had missed an important conversation somewhere. He put down the papers he was sorting, keeping a wary eye on the pair.

Heaven help him the day the two most eccentric people he knew started agreeing with each other—such an alliance would surely be the start of something apocalyptic in proportion.

The President, on the other hand, seemed to like what he saw. His eyes took on a pleased glint as he smiled. "Then I'm sure you won't mind if I temporarily transfer you from your acting courses to dance instruction."

For a moment, Mogami froze. Then her eyes lit up in a blast of sparkles, triggering a hallucination of blooming flowers as she smiled with rosy-tinted cheeks—an expression of joy that took both the President and Sawara by surprise (as well as anyone else who happened to be in range of said blast). "I can do that?!"

President Takarada was the first to recover from this display of enthusiasm—more like he was the only one eccentric enough to take it in stride.

"_Of course_!" he boomed, clearly tickled to see her giving the proper (in _his_ mind) response to one of his grand schemes. "How can an actress fulfil her role of bringing love to the masses without means to procure the proper tools and instruction? Let it never be said that LME does not provide for its children!"

At the line '_bringing love to the masses'_ Mogami's smile had wilted significantly, but she managed to shake off the look of horrified disgust and plaster a look of solemn determination on her face by the time the President's speech was finished (which was no small feat, in Sawara's opinion). She stood and gave a resolute, respectful bow.

"I shall do my utmost to become an actress worthy of LME's faith in me, President."

"That's the spirit, Mogami-kun! Now—off to class!"

As the President swept the girl from the room (followed by his troupe of acrobats and barking jungle cats), Sawara wondered if he should consider an early retirement.

He didn't like the idea of being around when those two really started seeing eye-to-eye.

* * *

In Kyoko's mind there was an image of what a dance class should look like. She'd taken some ballet when she was younger, and had loved it…but had given it up in order to dedicate herself to working at the Fuwa Inn in an effort to please the Fuwa couple (the memory made her sigh and shake her head at her younger self who was so foolishly earnest).

That elderly instructor from those foolishly earnest years had been kind and had made every class fun… but she received a rather rude awakening to what the next six weeks would look like under the instruction of Rina Kaminari.

It wasn't that the thin, sharp-featured woman with green eyes and graying hair (which she kept short and spiky) was unkind… she just wasn't about to waste time making the class fun for you, and made sure you knew it. For the first ten minutes of class, Mogami wondered if she was mistakenly put in a boot camp—but by the end of the class, she knew exactly what her weaknesses were, and how Kaminari-sensei expected her to go about annihilating them.

Apparently, though her cardiovascular health was 'decent enough to make a start', her flexibility was practically nonexistent. Years traveling by bike without proper stretching and not deviating from formal posture (unless playing Natsu or Setsu) had apparently made her as 'pliable as a corpse in rigor mortis'. By the time she was allowed to slither out of the classroom her muscles had been pulled and pounded so far out of shape that they couldn't seem to remember what they were for anymore. Muscles she didn't think should exist were hurting. If she thought learning how to move like Natsu was taxing, moving like Kaya was looking to be infinitely worse.

She collapsed into one of the atrocious pink chairs in the LoveME lounge and groaned as her formless frame was unable to keep in the chair and flopped gracelessly onto the floor instead, leaving her sprawling on the linoleum among the table and chair legs.

She briefly contemplated the idea of giving away all her possessions and digging her own grave—so she wouldn't have to inconvenience anyone too much when she keeled over dead in the process of creating this character—but such thoughts were put to an end by the remembrance that she was still so greatly indebted to LME, the Daruma-ya couple, and numerous other parties who had helped her come this far (a certain tall, dangerous actor included).

It would be utterly shameless of her to leave this world without having properly shown her gratitude—and since her meager (or rather, non-existent) fortune was not enough for her to do so currently, she'd just have to persevere and take necessary safety measures to prevent her demise by this character's hands.

_Why would dancing be one of Kaya's favorite things to do? Isn't it hard for her? She's blind, after all…_

She scowled at the underside of the table. _Maybe she enjoys suffering. That would explain why she endures abuse without feeling resentful._

Kyoko's nose scrunched as she shook her head in disapproval and attempted to roll over. She didn't want to play a girl that was sick in the head.

_There must be another reason…_

She closed her eyes, dragging her purse toward her to use as a temporary pillow as she curled up on her side. _If I was Kaya…what would I be thinking about right now?_

She imagined such a girl wouldn't mind being by herself. She spent a lot of time alone, anyway. She was quiet. She liked nature, dancing, and spiritual light… putting the spiritual light bit aside to think about later, she focused on being a girl that likes moving even though she can't see her surroundings, and doesn't mind being alone.

_First of all…how do you keep from getting disoriented if you can't even see the ground under your feet?_

She pulled the belt from her LoveME overalls and tied it over her eyes, pushing herself upright (letting out a muffled string of curses as her head hit the table—'_It isn't as if I need to be sore anywhere else right now_!').

She decided to (try to) ignore the protests of her battered body. Kaya wouldn't be that sore after a class like that anyway—she loved dancing, after all.

Remembering her resolution to take necessary safety measures, she shifted the blindfold so that one of her eyes was free and climbed out from under the table to push the furniture out of the way. She's worry about how Kaya handles obstacles at a later time. For now, she needed to understand how Kaya handled the floor. Righting the blindfold, she knelt in the center of the space.

_What sensation _does_ she have?_ Smell, hearing, taste, spiritual sight (which she would worry about later) and touch.

_Smell won't help her much with dancing. Neither would her hearing, aside from being able to follow the music…_Taste was another fairly irrelevant sense for dancing purposes (though good taste is always relevant in anything). _That leaves me with touch…_

If the senses Kaya used to dance were touch and hearing, then…_she must really like music… living in the moment… being in tune with her body…_

If she was quiet, but liked dancing, that implied that she preferred to express herself without words…

Kyoko shifted her legs out from under her and sat with them stretched in front, focusing on the information relayed to her by her senses. The feel of the fabric against her skin, the difference in temperature between the air and the linoleum, the feeling and sound of her lungs filling and emptying, the smell of the air-freshener Moko-san kept in her locker, the sounds coming to her through the door, walls, and even ceiling… _She probably came to appreciate her other senses so much more after she lost her sight as a child…her spatial awareness has got to be through the roof…_

She climbed carefully to her feet, focusing on her center of balance, and tried standing on one foot.

The difference between balancing with your eyes open and balancing with them closed was night and day. Confused by how difficult it was, she removed her blindfold and tried again.

It was startling how much difference being able to see made—the struggle to just stay upright suddenly became so much easier.

_So… how does Kaya do it?_

She managed to ride her bike home that night, but not without much chastising of her floppy muscles (that led to an amount of swerving that startled more than one pedestrian and had a police cruiser tailing her for a bit). In the end, she had to rally her might by imagining that Shotaro was a cockroach she was chasing down with her front wheel (which turned out to also be an effective way to lose the cop…though she never realized one was following her to begin with).

Apparently her shaking and trembling made quite a ghastly sight. The Daruma-ya Okami-san, who was also her landlady, helped her up the stairs and brought her some pain killers, refusing to allow her to help with the dinner rush.

Resolving wearily (after much apologizing and berating herself for slacking on the job) to wake up extra early to help with the restaurant's morning preparations, she flopped herself down at her table and weakly wrestled her homework free from her schoolbag. She hadn't been able to go to school much over the past few weeks, so she had a lot of catching up to do. She worked late into the night, studying with the same familiar feverish determination she had as a child, eager to finish her work so she could think more about her character before her eyelids decided to give up on her.

In the end, she only had the strength and time to organize the notes she had amassed during the day and reminders for later.

_Kaya:_

_~strong spatial awareness and balance_

_~her other 4 senses are heightened because of her loss of sight_

_~is 'gentle' and 'loving' on purpose_

_~prefers to express feelings without words_

_~appreciates the moment_

_To ponder on:_

_~Why is Kaya set on being forgiving and gentle and loving?_

_~What 'alternative' was Ms. Edmunds referring to—_

_Does it have something to do with the demon's heart inside her?_

_~How does she feel about her relationship with the demon?_

_~What exactly is 'spiritual sight' and how does it affect Kaya's life?_

_~ Mysterious Message-san's text on spirits and spiritual energy_

_~Why does she like nature? Don't rocks and roots make walking hard?_

_~How would growing up at a shrine affect her habits and lifestyle? The way she thinks?_

_To do:_

_~increase flexibility_

_~practice balancing while blindfolded_

_~use 'The Sho-Roach' method to travel when weakened_

* * *

Kyoko found herself imagining what it would be like doing things while blind a lot the next day. She thought about it while mincing vegetables with her landlord, Taishou-san, in the morning—though she didn't dare try doing it blindfolded (Okami-san was worried enough as it was about the way her sore muscles had her trembling). She thought about it while showering and getting dressed for school. She thought about it while biking to school, and as she sat at her desk, watching the teacher sketch out the curriculum on the whiteboard. She even thought about it when she climbed the wall in order to avoid going through the front or back gates in an effort to avoid meeting non-imaginary Sho-roaches (climbing was putting it nicely—she was so sore that she barely inched her way to the top before falling into the bushes gracelessly on the other side with an exasperated groan. She made a note to herself to find another way to escape her enemies that didn't result in so many injuries—if she kept going like this, she'd end with a hospital bill added to her schooling expenses…not to mention a fine for damaging school property…).

_I wonder if Kaya gets a lot of bumps and bruises._ She nursed her aching, bleeding shin as she flopped down to unlock her bicycle. _How does she deal with irritating things like that? How does she react when she trips over things she can't see? Or when she's bullied? What does she think and feel about being at the mercy of a seeing culture?_

From Kaya's character description, she was a mild, gentle, loving, and graceful person in spite of her vulnerabilities and circumstances.

She tried to think of people she knew that were like that. Her landlady, Okami-san, came to mind…and there were people she knew that were pretty patient…Director Ogata was gentle like that…

_What do you focus on when it feels like the world is against you that helps you stay positive and pure-hearted? Things you love?_

Her grudges flared to murky life, swirling around her ominously as she imagined chasing the Sho-roach all the way to LME (causing the innocent pedestrians to dive for cover as she raged past them, oblivious of the havoc she left in her wake). Back in her stupid days—before she realized what a jerk he was—she had been happy just thinking about him. The very remembrance made her want to vomit (preferably on something that belonged to the aforementioned jerk).

But Kaya hadn't experienced something like that, right? She was probably just like most girls, still stupidly in love with love.

…Then again, she was also the victim of a cruel prank by her peers that caused her to lose her sight, was abused and rejected by her own family, was slowly being overtaken by the demon's heart in her chest, and was living under the understanding that that demon would kill her at some point in the future…

When you factor in the kind of determination it takes to climb a mountain every day as you slowly lose your sight…and the kind of fearlessness it takes to be friends with a demon to begin with….

As far as Kyoko could see, this girl could go two ways. She could destroy herself for the good of the world…or become a villain with a _truly_ demonic vengeance that would make petty kindergarten bullies like Mio and Natsu tremble in her wake.

_'…there are lots of people with terrifying potential that are that way because they prefer it to the alternative…_'

She skidded to a halt, the Sho-roach forgotten for the moment.

_…THAT'S IT!_

* * *

[If you are wondering why I claimed that she had taken some ballet classes, it is because there are a few spots in the manga where she uses ballet to celebrate…and in chapter 38 (somewhere around page…12?) it says that she had]

[I seem to be posting like my life depends on it… so I think it's only fair to give you warning that I struggle with consistency and determination once the initial feverish excitement over a project begins to ebb… Not that I won't work on that! Consistency and determination are worthy qualities to strive for! …but I thought I ought to let you have a chance to brace yourself for the bumps in the road that might start appearing further on. Sorry for rambling (again), and thank you for reading!]


	5. The Eye of the Hurricane

[I don't know if it was a sudden wave of stage-fright, or the curse of perfectionism rearing its ugly head…but I had a really hard time with this chapter… I want to be worthy of all the direction and support you guys have given—I'll keep trying! Please be patient with me—and thank you!]

* * *

_'Skip Beat!'_ and its original characters are the property of their creator, Nakamura Yoshiki (who is unfailingly fabulous)

Chapter 5: The Eye of the Hurricane

Sayuri Wakana checked in at LME's dance instructors' office that Thursday afternoon in high spirits. She caught a brief glance of Kaminari-sensei before ducking into the changing room with her duffle—she was introducing some of the Sayuri's fellow student-teachers to their new projects for the coming six weeks.

Today, Sayuri would be introduced to her first project. She was so excited she could hardly keep from skipping.

This was her dream—teaching the best in the entertainment industry how to dance with Rina Kaminari, who was famous for teaching world-class actors and singers how to dance, and do it _well_. Sayuri had only been working with Kaminari-sensei for a few months at LME, and loved every minute of it. That woman knew how to dance, how to teach, and how to do it effectively. Once you got over the initial shock of the Spartan training atmosphere and expectations, they became empowering…she couldn't wait to get her first student and show Kaminari-sensei what she could do. She'd fought her way through national dance competitions and schools to get to this spot. Now that she was finally here, she was ready to make the stars dance like they were born to it.

Sayuri smiled as she tugged on a blue sweater over her leotard and slipped on her dance flats before pulling down her matching leg warmers to cover her ankles. She locked up her duffle and exited the changing room, running her fingers through her short black hair to get some of the static from the sweater out as she looked through the wall on her left—on the other side it was the dance studio mirror, but on this side it served as a very large window.

Her first thought upon seeing the girl was…_Why is that color legal?_

"Wakana—this is Kyoko Mogami. She will be your responsibility for the next six weeks."

Sayuri just watched as the girl in pink bowed, still rooted to the spot as what she was seeing soaked in. _I know that uniform…why is a member of that comedy trio here? Wait…_this_ is my project?!_

She sent Kaminari-sensei a desperate, pleading glance._ Tell me this is a joke._

A stern brow lifted over icy green eyes. Sayuri knew what Kaminari was saying. _Do you honestly think I have a sense of humor?_

Sayuri's eyes tightened slightly. _Maybe?_

She could understand why the pink-suited girl froze on her way up from her bow of greeting—Kaminari-sensei's laugh wasn't an evil cackle or anything…it was just something you'd think would come from her only when she obtained world domination.

"I think you can do this, Wakana," she said, still chuckling as she clapped a hand on Sayuri's shoulder and handed her a clipboard. "Tighten your boot straps and hop to it."

Sayuri's cheeks glowed a bit at the stern elder dance instructor's praise as she studied Mogami's assessment sheet. _No relevant dance history, good cardio health, deplorable flexibility…._ "Alright—you heard her. Let's 'hop' to it."

Her first impression of Mogami Kyoko was of a girl that was polite and eager to please.

Her second impression was of a girl who was much older on the inside than she was on the outside, with a gentle, piercing gaze that was a little disconcerting.

The change seemed to happen when the girl came back from changing out of her eye-abusing uniform. As far as dance instruction went, it was an improvement—she followed Sayuri's instructions with an attitude of meditative care befitting a professional…though her lack of flexibility, control, and experience clashed a great deal with that image. Altogether, Sayuri was pleased that the girl had chosen not to bring the flighty eccentricities she was famous for into the dance studio.

_The next six weeks might not be that bad, after all._

However, she found herself feeling a little uneasy as the week continued. When the next Monday rolled around, Sayuri was standing in front of Kaminari's desk.

"Take a seat, Wakana."

Sayuri did so, noting that Kaminari-sensei's desk was as neat and ship-shape as ever, every pen in place and the paperwork neatly sorted and stacked. Kaminari-sensei insisted on keeping her own personal file for every student apart from the ones the secretaries kept, so you often saw her at the desk looking through her files and writing new notes after every class.

"You have something to discuss?"

Sayuri shook herself and nodded, sitting upright to match her instructor, who was looking at her over her reading glasses. She was wearing a gray sweater that matched her graying, spiky hair, but was several shades darker than her gray desk.

"Yes, Sensei—it's about Mogami-san," Sayuri began, somewhat hesitantly, wondering how to phrase it. "I was wondering if… …she might be sick?"

"Sick?" Kaminari-sensei's green eyes sharpened as she put down the paperwork she was holding. Anything health-related tended to have this effect on the stern teacher. "How?"

"Not her body, exactly…" Sayuri sighed, and decided to spit it out. She did so in a low voice, not wanting the whole room to hear her call her student mentally deranged. "She does this weird personality shift before class every day, and the way she looks at people is kind of unsettling, you know? And today, she tripped over something that I _know_ she _had_ to have seen, and she hardly says a word during the class, and when she _does_ speak, it's with this voice that makes you stiffen up and feel like you're stuttering…"

Kaminari-sensei chuckled. "Calm down, Wakana. She's an actress preparing for a new role. She'd probably appreciate it if you gave her a little feedback on how you feel about what she's doing with it. I've noticed that you two haven't done much talking."

Sayuri glanced back towards the door she'd just come through. Sometimes she forgot that Kaminari could clearly see what was going on even at her desk, what with that mirror/window.

She sighed. "…I see. I hadn't really thought about that… I guess I was just feeling kind of…"

"Intimidated?"

Sayuri flushed and scowled down at her hands, ready to be laughed at.

"You should look up her work—I think you'll feel a little better after you see it."

The stage name 'Kyouko' did sound a little familiar to Sayuri, though she wasn't certain why. However, once she got home that night and looked it up, everything started to make a great deal more sense.

Needless to say, Sayuri didn't feel so bad for having been intimidated anymore.

* * *

Mogami Kyoko wobbled up the steps of _Andy Studios_, feeling her two weeks of rapid-fire dance training in every fiber of her being. Today was the day—the day that would decide if all her efforts had been worthwhile. She leaned against a pillar, feeling as if her spirit were trying to escape and leave her as a hollowed husk on the doorstep (several people passing by gave her worried looks at this, but she didn't notice).

_What if…what if my 'Kaya' isn't good enough? What if I went off the deep end in the wrong pool?_ Her fingers itched as she fought the urge to reach for her cell phone. She'd already talked to Moko-san late into the night and couldn't bother her again so soon…

She felt a traitorous longing in her chest, and panicked.

_NO! I will NOT give in!_

She thrust herself from the pillar with the energy of defiance that welled up within her…and nearly sent herself hurdling dangerously back down the steps when it turned out that her aching limbs disapproved of the sudden movement.

She'd been good. She hadn't called him once to ask for help, though she'd had to put barriers between herself and her phone so that if she lost her nerve she'd have more of a chance at salvaging the situation. She would not inconvenience Tsuruga-san with this—she was a growing actress, and it was time for her to fight her own battles!

"Excuse me—I'm here to audition for '_The Peacekeepers'."_

The girl behind the desk looked up from her computer and blinked, giving Kyoko a look that clearly said _'Are you really sure you want to wear that thing here?'_

"Your name and agency?"

"Kyouko, from LME."

She reached for something hidden under the counter and pulled out a name tag.

"You're number 18," the receptionist informed her, handing her the tag. "Sign in on this clipboard, and wait in room 12 until you are called."

Kyoko bowed politely and did as she was told, putting on the tag before heading in the direction the girl had pointed in. It didn't take overlong to find the room.

She'd done some research on the previous works of Mary Edmunds and Director Daniel 'Mundy' Edmunds. They were a married couple who often referring to their work as their 'children', and were what one might call a 'dynamite duo'. She was the creative mind behind such works as _'Netherworld Heights', 'My Mother is an Alien', _and _'The Reaper's Daughter'—_each an outrageously successful television series, most of them directed by her husband, who had also directed '_A Warrior's Mind'_, _'The Wrath of the Fearless',_ and _'Seven Saintly Sinners'._ They were a pair famous for combining her knack for creating fascinating parallel worlds, and his gift for high action and realism, to create a style of action fantasy that was apparently wildly popular.

Moko-san, who was better at keeping track of the people in the showbiz world than Kyoko, had blown a fuse when Kyoko had told her that Mary Edmunds was the same Edmunds-san that Amamiya had introduced to her in the LoveME lounge two weeks ago.

"There are never any clear pictures of her—I heard that she's actually very introverted and that her husband does most of the talking for her to the press…" She had started pulling her hair at that point _"_She saw me in that atrocious pink thing! That was _not_ the way that I wanted to see her for the first time!"

Speaking of atrocious pink things…Kyoko found herself getting a lot of cold looks from the other occupants of room 12 as she sat down to look over her script one more time.

_"…glad I'm not going after her—that pink will have the judges in a bad mood for sure…"_

Kyoko sniffed irritably, resisting the urge to scowl at the girl. Her uniform never ceased to make an impression (as well as cause eyes to bulge and burn)…but she had no intention of wearing her uniform in front of the judges. _I'm not _that_ insensitive! Besides, Kaya-san would never wear something like this—it isn't flexible enough, and the fabric is too itchy and doesn't feel nice to the touch._

After having done some research on blindness, Kyoko had been fascinated to learn that blind people can actually tell what color something was by feel—something about the energy different colors gave off. With this in mind, she was sure to pick things that didn't have conflicting colors, but otherwise chose purely by feel with Kaya-san's personality, preferences, and history considered…

_She loves to dance, loves nature, loves people…she probably wants to wear something she can dance in, something that flows nicely and has a pleasant, natural feel, and something that would cover any scratches, scars, or bruises she gets from bumping into and tripping over things…since she love people, she doesn't want to worry them. Also, she strikes me as someone who likes simplicity…and also loves life, her body, and isn't self-conscious (though she has a strong awareness of her own spiritual state, from her sight and upbringing in a shrine)._

_But I hope that this isn't going overboard…_

She'd worn worse as Setsu, it was true, and it wasn't as if she was exposing much _skin…_but it was still enough to make her inner Kyoko squirm at the shamelessness.

_But I really wanted to express her serene fearlessness and lack of worldly interest…she's more the kind to invent her own style than worry about what everyone else was wearing…_

Still, Kyoko felt like she'd rather wait until right before she was called to take off her uniform.

* * *

Mary Edmunds adjusted her floppy denim hat. She liked this one—its brim came down nicely over her ears and face, helping to narrow her vision of sight a little. It made it easier for her to be social in a crowd if she only had to concentrate on what was in front of her. Mundy had bought it for her that morning, since she misplaced her favorite one a few weeks ago, and a new satchel to match it—since the old one was getting kind of patchy.

It wasn't as though Mary really felt that eight people were really such a terrible crowd…but she still wasn't overly fond of the kind of solicitous behavior the producers were inclined to give. She was glad that they were happy to work with her, but she wished they'd focus more on the work at hand than making small-talk.

Mundy did what he could to deflect some of her share of the attention. He set a sharp, businesslike pace and answered most of the questions directed at her in a rather no-nonsense fashion. By the time lunch came around, the producers had begun to catch on and adopt a similar attitude, realizing that it was the only way they were going to make a good impression.

The afternoon of the casting call went much smoother for Mary. She found a nice prospective actor to play 'Aki' in his child form, and some brothers that might just be perfect for the role of the kitsune twins. It was difficult to keep concentration through the never-ending line of interviews, so she made sure to make use of the breaks, often taking a solitary jog and freshen her mindset.

This newest brain-child of Mary's was for a bit of an older crowd than the previous works she and Mundy had done. Though there would be several children in the cast…those children weren't really 'children' at all. It made casting a bit tricky—they had to find kids that were able to play the parts of mythical creatures that were several centuries old.

Still, once the casting part was over and they'd found all the right players, she had high hopes of having a good time bringing this project to life.

"I don't remember having this many interviews for '_The Reaper's Daughter'," _she muttered at Mundy during a short breather—it wasn't long enough for her to stretch her legs, so she settled with giving her scalp a massage.

"You say that every time we do this—just take it as a good sign that more people want to be involved in your work."

Mary scowled. "You make it sound like this is all _my_ fault, Mr. World-Class Director."

Mundy smiled at took the stack of ordered profiles the casting director's assistant handed to him, flipping through them carefully. "Is 'Kaya' still your favorite?"

She leaned against his shoulder, watching as he looked them over. "You know I hate favoritism. I show the same care to—and demand the same brilliance of—_all_ my characters, thank you very much."

He grunted. "I also know that you're a hypocrite. Any of these jump out at you?"

She smiled slyly as he picked up number 18. "She has promise…I just hope she was able to overcome her difficulty with Kaya's loving nature."

Mundy eyed her with a lifted brow. "You went to give her the invitation personally?"

Mary squirmed in her seat and smiled anxiously. "I was curious? And you know how much Kaya affects the dynamic of the group. She can make or break the project…"

He snorted.

"'Hate favoritism' _my foot_….but I see what you're getting at…" Mundy paused, reading over the girl's profile. "…is she as…_intense_…in person as she is on screen?"

"She was a bit eccentric…but surprisingly polite and good-natured. I would never have pegged her for 'Natsu' or 'Mio'."

"And she was having some sort of 'difficulty' with 'Kaya's' loving nature?"

"I think she's a fighter—I'm excited to see how she finally resolved the issue," Mary laughed. "Apparently, two of her friends have similar difficulties. Lory makes them wear this atrocious pink jumpsuit in a section called 'LoveME.' Isn't that a laugh?"

"He does seem like the sort of man that would abuse his employees like that," Mundy answered drolly. "Did you happen to ask about any prior dance or martial arts experience?"

Mary blinked. "…I forgot."

"Figures. Guess I'll find out soon enough." he pulled back and clapped his hands loudly "Alright, break's over. Let's get going. We've got a lot of 'Kaya's' to see, and haven't got all day to do it."

The producers returned to their seats and the casting director's assistant went to fetch the first contestant.

"I'll have Sasaki-san run these like he has the others—tell me if there's anything you want clarified or changed in his approach."

"Gotcha," Mary nodded, opening the first girl's file to take a look.

Most of the girls auditioning for the part of Kaya had extensive dance history. There were some who were breathtakingly talented, impressing the producers. Every now and again Mundy would glance back at Mary with a lifted brow.

In between contestants he leaned back beside her. "You don't look very happy."

"I just feel like they kind of throw certain aspects of Kaya right out the window…like they pick what they are comfortable with and ignore the rest. She's supposed to be _all_ of those things…weak and strong, joyful and sad, gentle and wild…"

"…That's asking a bit much, don't you think?"

Both Mundy and Mary turned to glare at the producer that had voiced what most of them were probably thinking.

"Not of someone who really took the time to try to understand her."

* * *

Kyoko Mogami stood next to the door and took several calming breaths as she unzipped her LoveME uniform and carefully stepped out of it. The casting director's assistant had just taken in number 17, and Kyoko was next. She folded the uniform and tucked it into her bag, closed her eyes, and concentrated on becoming 'Kaya'.

_I find joy in courageously embracing what life I have left… _She took another breath, this time feeling her lungs fill slowly and her muscles relax as she wiggled her bare toes, cementing her connection to the ground. She listened to the steady pulse of her heart, appreciating every beat …_Fear nothing but the destruction of the spirit. Though the world about me might rage, I remain steadfast in the knowledge that it cannot taint my light without my consent…_

_I am still and serene—a pocket of safety amidst the chaos, a refuge from the storms of anger and fear …_

_I am Kaya._

* * *

Mary leaned forward and blinked. _That orange hair looks familiar._

"Number 18," Mundy said helpfully, handing her the profile. She took it absently, her eyes locked on the girl who was now sitting on the floor of the stage. She had tripped over the ledge after entering.

It would have reminded her of the way she had sat on the floor of the 'LoveME lounge' after having been thwarted in her efforts to tackle Kotonami-san…except the body language was entirely different. Where Mogami had sat with perfect rigidness, her kneeling posture flawless—this girl on the floor now sat with one leg tucked under her and to the side, and the other foot planted on the ground in front of her, the knee next to her shoulder. The posture wasn't hunched at all, but was elegantly curved as she rose sinuously to her feet. Mary dropped the folder she was holding and leaned forward for the first time during this batch of interviews.

The way this girl was moving almost had an _animalistic_ poise to it, as if she were a wild cat, or an antelope. She was wearing a full-bodied black leotard, and over that she was wearing a sort-of blouse…that seemed to be made of strips of green silk. There was one that draped over her shoulders that the others were tied to, and from there they sort of swirled round her torso to knit together at the waist before falling to form a skirt that fluttered prettily around her upper thighs. Her feet were bare. This look, combined with the way she was standing, with a serene sort of supple and graceful stillness, brought strongly to Mary's mind the image of a willow.

"Stand on the red 'x' mark, please."

Mary tugged on Mundy's sleeve excitedly.

"She's in character! Tell him to direct her as he would a blind person."

Mundy looked at her skeptically, but relayed the command. The casting director gave him the same look, but stood and walked over to the girl, offering her his elbow. She accepted the offered arm gently and allowed herself to be led to the center of the stage.

It was a good thing that a boom microphone was positioned above them, and that a camera with a feed that led directly to the screens in front of them was working, or they would never have caught the telling exchange between the two. For one, the casting director still seemed to be under the impression that the interview had not yet started, so was standing in the way, and two, the girl's voice was so soft that it would never have traveled to where they were sitting.

"Thank you."

Mary felt Mundy and the producers stiffen, and felt like giggling for joy.

_It appears that Mogami has overcome her fear of being gentle and loving._

The voice alone was enough to make someone blush. It wasn't as if it was provocative…it was just too _heartfelt_. It embarrassed you because it made you feel as if she were speaking to someone she held dear. Compounded by that smile—with gentle affection that seemed to radiate sincerity—it effectively turned the casting director's ears pink and his normally collected way of speaking into an awkward sputter. He excused himself hastily and escaped to the comparative safety of his seat.

It was interesting to note that Mogami's eyes followed him, though they seemed slightly unfocused.

The casting director (Kenji Sasaki) cleared his throat. "Please clearly state your name and agency."

Mogami blinked, and seemed to surface from under the serene, graceful façade of her 'Kaya'. Correcting her posture, she executed a perfect bow. "Kyouko, from Lory's Magestic Entertainment."

_That's right—her stage name is just 'Kyouko', without the 'Mogami'._ Everyone but Mary seemed a little taken aback by the sudden change in personality as they gaped at the slightly embarrassed, stiff figure standing before them. When Sasaki indicated that he was going to start, the nervousness and stiffness melted away as the girl seemed to literally transform into someone else again, shifting her stance slightly as she relaxed into a posture of poised elegance that made her seem almost otherworldly. It was fragile and strong, gentle and wild, and—oddly enough—both joyful and sorrowful.

Mary had to stifle the urge to fidget childishly in her seat._ This is so exciting!_

For the first time all day, she felt like one of her characters could be standing before her in the flesh. It took all her willpower not to leap up from her seat and start asking all sorts of questions. As if sensing her state, Mundy reached over and clasped her jumpy hand in one of his. There was a hint of amusement in his eyes as he shook his head ever so slightly.

"_Kaya-san, I apologize for my partner—she's not usually so uncollected_," Sasaki was speaking the lines of Agent Kazuo, who was apologizing for the way his partner (who happened to be the very sister Kaya had traded her life for eight years previous, now a government agent and member of the _Peacekeepers)_ had just spoken to her.

"_It's alright, Kazuo-san_," Kyouko answered softly, her eyes compassionate and grateful, at once apologizing to Kazuo and also thanking him for caring. There was pain in them as she seemed to draw back, her eyes glazing slightly as if she was remembering something that sapped the joy from her features. "_She has every right to be angry with me_."

All the scenes in the audition were very short, their intent being to draw out different sides of Kaya. Some of them were just one-liners from her, where the setting was explained and she was to say the line as she thought Kaya would in that situation.

Kyouko apparently specialized in intensity. Not only could she play twisted villains that could freeze the blood in your veins, she could also play a gentle child that could melt the most hardened of hearts. Mary wondered just what it was that made her able to look at Sasaki-san, a complete stranger to her (as far as Mary knew), with such a look of admiration, tenderness and compassion that made you feel like she honestly knew and cared about him deeply (in a platonic way). Mary honestly felt sorry for the poor man, who had to sit at the receiving end of such a gaze for such an extended period of time.

_Why in the world is someone who can look at people like that in a section called 'LoveME'?_

Finally, when it came to the last scene, Mary couldn't take it anymore. She stood abruptly, walked around the table of startled producers, and made her way over to stand next to Sasaki (whom she noted looked as though his brain was overheating).

"Kyouko-san."

The girl blinked, and pulled herself back into her rigid, polite posture. She bowed to Mary. "Good afternoon, Edmunds-san—it is a pleasure to see you again."

"It's good to see you too, Kyouko-san—" Mary smiled, nodding her head, and stepped up next to the girl, pointing at the script she was holding. "This last line you said—'How can you bear it?' —I want you to say it as if Kaya is speaking to someone who is intentionally breaking the spirit of someone she loves. Can you do that for me?"

Kyouko stared at the script for a moment, her eyes hardening. "…I think I can do that."

Mary nodded. "Good. Look right into the camera when you do it, alright?"

The girl nodded, still staring at the script with unreadable eyes. Mary made her way back to her seat and Mundy signaled for Sasaki to give the cue.

She watched the screen intently as Kyouko lifted her head, her eyes closed. When she opened them, Mary started, as did Mundy and the producers.

There was repressed panic and terror in her eyes. Mary could almost swear that the air around the girl was moving as she started to shake, wrapping her arms about herself as if trying to keep something inside that was trying to escape, her nails digging into her clothed flesh. With a wild, pleading desperation, she lifted her eyes to look directly into the camera. Tears gushed down her cheeks unchecked as she spoke, pleading for understanding as a sort of terrible madness seemed to fill her eyes. It almost looked like…

"**_How can you bear it_**?"

…bloodlust.

Shocked silence filled the room after the raw, tortured voice faded and Kyouko relaxed into her politely rigid posture, wiping the tears from her cheeks as she took a few steadying breaths. Mary felt herself shaking as goose-bumps prickled her skin so hard it almost hurt.

"Mary…?"

Mary looked at Mundy's slightly blue face and nodded. "That's enough."

Mundy stood, leaning on their table a little as if for support. "Thank you, Kyouko-san. Remember to sign out before leaving."

* * *

[Again, to all who commented, you have my thanks! You guys are awesome!]

[To amusingmurff: I sense a true mastermind—I had done basic fleshing out of several sub-plots and had lots of scenes in mind, but had not drawn up a detailed battle plan…good idea. I think I'll hop to that. And as far as bleep-lingo goes, I'm sorry it was jarring…I'm kind of PG, and want to keep this relatively clean without being untrue to characters…do you think it will continue to be a problem after the initial introduction?]

[Oh—and the plot and characters for '_The Peacekeepers'_ are of my own creation, so they are unlikely to be found elsewhere…though I did get inspiration from various things… I'm glad you like it so far, and I hope it continues to be interesting…I'm a little worried about doing Japanese Mythology an injustice, so if anyone notices something annoying, please tell me! Thank you!]


	6. The Chicken's Depression

[Annabella Prix: No, I don't have any acting experience, but I am so flattered that you think so…I have always kind of thought that would be really neat—it's part of the reason I like _Skip Beat! _so much. And as a writer of characters, being able to understand the behaviors and motivations of the characters you write is just the same as an actor, I think. Most of the time, a writer is usually the one who has to do it first. Thank you, though! Your review really made my day!]

[Devilsama666: A little more to come on the demon in the chapter after this…but I'll have to keep up the suspense for a few more chapters, sorry! And I'm so glad you like '_The Peacekeepers'_ so far—I hope it stays interesting!]

* * *

'_Skip Beat!'_ and its original characters are the work of Yoshiki Nakamura, who is awesome in no uncertain terms.

Chapter 6: The Chicken's Depression

"Maybe you should take a break."

Ren blinked, surfacing from his stupor. He was at TBM studios for an _R MANDY_ commercial-shoot, which seemed to have ended. He'd finished his part already and changed back into his own casual business wear, so it wasn't as if he had missed anything important, but it did bother him a little that he'd completely forgotten what he was doing—he was usually very focused when it came to his work. He looked down at his grey-suited manager. "…Did you say something, Yashiro-san?"

Yashiro gave Ren a stern glare through his spectacles. "Call her. You can't work like this."

Ren stiffened as the bad mood that had been bubbling under the surface all week reared its ugly head. He tried to make his voice sound light, but his usual civil tones were not so obedient of late. Neither were his smiles. "I can work just fine, Yashiro-san, and I would prefer it if you fixed your habit of bringing her up every ten minutes—it's not appreciated."

"You should see the face you're making right now…" Yashiro folded his arms, speaking in a near whisper, genuine concern in his eyes. He was being completely serious—the '_Let's Play With Ren_!' side of him nowhere in sight, his _'Capable and Mature Manager_' look making a very solemn appearance—"I'm not just messing with you, Ren. Do something about this before it causes problems with the '_Actor X'_ project and your professional image, alright?"

Ren nodded stiffly and strode from the set. In his current frame of mind, it honestly was very difficult to properly perform his mild-mannered alter-ego (Tsuruga Ren). He lifted his hand to run his fingers through his hair, but paused when he remembered that it was a wig (his real hair was dyed pitch black for his 'Cain Heel' disguise). He collapsed onto a bench in an empty hallway, letting out what had to be the millionth sigh he'd let out over the past week as he pulled out his cellphone to eye it irritably.

His manager was probably right. He should just call her under some made-up pretext. Maybe to tell her about the postponing of the filming of '_Tragic Marker' _or to ask her when her exams were over… they were viable excuses for something as harmless as a phone call.

The problem was…she was an actress, and she was only getting better at her job. If he talked to her over the phone, she might be able to hide if she was upset—if he was going to hazard a contact with her, it needed to be in person so he would have some chance of determining how much damage control needed to be done.

He put down the phone on the bench beside him and slid it so that it rested out of his reach. It wasn't as much the distance that was driving him mad as the question of what color she would turn the next time she heard from him.

He'd never wanted to see a reaction like that from her. He was someone who learned from his mistakes, and he'd drawn several lines in self-defense as for what he would allow himself to hope for from LoveME's #1—but how does one fortify their heart _that _much? To the point where the woman you love can look at you like the sight of you is a death-sentence and have it _not_ hurt? He leaned down to rest his forehead on the palms of his hands.

_I need to fix this soon—just giving her space isn't going to make it go away._

A familiar sound alerted Ren to another presence. It was the silly squeakers in those ridiculous three-toed, plush feet. In spite of his less than cheerful state, he felt a slight lightening of his features as the hilarious rooster mascot for '_Bridge Rock', _and the very person who first told him he was in love with that hard-to-handle girl, flumped onto the bench next to him.

"Yo."

Ren lifted his head with a wry, but honest, smile on his face. "Long time no see, Bo."

"Likewise, Tsuruga-kun." the chicken replied with his funny, muffled voice. "More phone troubles?"

Ren had the feeling that the chicken was younger than he pretended to be, but he had always played along. Partly because he'd rather not openly acknowledge that he'd not only been told what love was by a chicken, but also by a chicken that was younger than him.

He sighed, snorted quietly at the reference to their first meeting (which involved a lack of cell phone and a rather blatant vocabulary blunder), and leaned back next to the chicken.

"Let's just say I've had a rough two weeks avoiding the inevitable."

The chicken let out a surprisingly weary sigh to match Ren's—and an thick depressive aura as he sunk lower in his seat, making it seem as though he were shrinking skeletally while his rotundity remained intact "Tell me about it."

Ren looked down at him curiously. "You too?"

"Yeah. And the person on the other end of _my_ phone won't want to talk to me again when they see how it messed up my job."

"Ah…" Ren turned his head to face the wall opposite, his own dark aura returning from its brief vacation.

"…You too?" The chicken asked, tilting his enormous, plush head.

Ren chuckled dryly. His professionalism was certainly in a bit of a precarious state of late, and she would probably be less than happy with finding out that her 'respected senior' had let his personal life muddle up his work. She'd probably be downright scandalized if he confessed that _love_ was the reason he had allowed it to come to this. He scowled. "Yeah. Me too."

"…Oh."

Strangely, the chicken seemed to be relieved to find that he was not the only in such a predicament. In spite of himself, Ren was smiling again, if half-heartedly. "So…did you lose your mascot job for real this time?"

A giant white wing lashed out and struck Ren in the arm. "HA! The producer wishes he could be so lucky!"

Ren found himself smiling more genuinely at this reaction. It didn't matter how serious the conversation was, 'The Chicken' always managed to make it look ridiculous eventually—what with his being so hard to predict and so violently expressive with that funny fake deep voice and comically exaggerative body language (that would have been annoying if it looked more contrived)… you just couldn't keep from feeling that things might not be so bad as you thought they were when he was around.

He sobered a bit when he remembered that, though the chicken was naturally gifted at comic relief, he also really did seem to be rather genuinely depressed. As hard as it was to take a man in a poultry costume seriously, he was a friend (though a strange one) and Ren really did owe him for helping him figure out how to find his 'Katsuki'.

"So, what really happened?"

The chicken let out a rather quiet and muffled, but miserable-sounding, groan. "I applied for a job I really wanted, but I was too arrogant and didn't ask my senior for help…in the end, they kicked me out before I even made it to the second half of the interview."

Ren winced. That did sound pretty bad. "What do you think you did wrong?"

The chicken tilted his head, drumming his feathers over his corpulent, stuffed form as he mulled it over. "Well…they kind of all went silent and pale… maybe I was too energetic?"

"…Just how energetic is 'too energetic', may I ask?" Ren could see Bo being energetic (Bo was _always_ energetic—even when he was being depressed, he did it with gusto), but he was honestly curious as to why it would cause that kind of reaction. He'd botched a lot of interviews in his younger years, but none of them had elicited _that_ kind of response.

"Well…I kind of unleashed a bit of my dark side, so to speak."

Ren stared at him blankly for a moment before returning his gaze to the opposite wall. "…I suppose chickens can have dark sides, too."

There was a prolonged stretch of silence between them before the chicken let out another sigh.

"Go ahead and laugh—it hurts just watching you try to stop yourself."

* * *

Kyoko scowled as she tried, unsuccessfully, to unzip her chicken suit. After a day like today, it was fitting that the zipper would decide to punish her as well.

It had been a stupid idea to approach Tsuruga-san. All that work, all week, to keep herself from harassing him for help with her character…gone up in smoke.

But when she stumbled upon him after her job at _Bridge Rock, _and saw his face like that as he eyed his phone (though she was annoyed that he could make even frustration and loneliness look godly), she had decided not to walk away.

Donning her disguise as Bo (because she couldn't bear to face him as herself—the mark of her unmaidenly shamelessness on him had probably faded by now, but it was still a burning hole in her own mind) she had trudged over to greet him in hopes of lifting his spirits a little…or at least providing a distraction for him from his phone (she hated herself for feeling jealous of whoever it was he wanted to talk to so much, so she hadn't asked).

It was stupid, but part of her (the diseased part) had just wanted to hear his voice.

She hadn't expected to actually be comforted by the destructively handsome actor, though. He hadn't really intended to do it, but his admission that he also had times when he didn't do well at work, and when he worried about having disappointed someone, did make her feel a little better. And the triumph of being able to make him laugh, even if she couldn't be the person on the other end of the phone, had briefly allowed her to forget that she was supposed to be wallowing in her sorrows and repenting for the act of arrogance that led to her massive auditioning failure.

She tried to climb gracefully out of the suit, but failed. She ended up on the floor (she seemed to be down there a lot these days), bemoaning the curse that was sore muscles as she tried to find the most comfortable way to shed her giant, poufy chicken shell with it being only a fourth of the way unzipped. She tried rocking from side to side, attempting to use her shoulder-blades to dig herself out. When that failed, she let herself lie there, on the floor, and wondered if they'd fire her if she just spent the night there in the suit. It was actually rather treacherously comfortable, when she didn't have to worry about moving it. Honestly, the thought of having to bike home now made her want to cry.

She snuggled (groaning at the protests of her battered body) down into her headless chicken suit, wishing that she hadn't chosen to wear that black boat-neck leotard under it after all (she had forgotten the clothes she usually wore under it, since she usually wore those under her clothes when she came to the job). It reminded her too much of the interview.

It was a big chance to break free from the bully stereotype, and she'd really put her heart into it—she really loved 'Kaya' now…and it felt like a newborn side of herself, a side of herself that she worked hard to create and really liked, had just been squashed by a giant 'REJECT' stamp and tossed down a garbage chute. Not only that, but the physical aspect of it too—she had worked herself to the bone creating Kaya's unique way of moving on top of just surviving dance classes.

Her body stiffened (painfully) as she remembered another aspect of this whole disaster. Tomorrow she'd have to tell Wakana-sensei and Kaminari-sensei that she had failed them.

She carefully retrieved Corn from where she had hidden it—in a small pouch (made of the same silky green fabric she'd used to make her blouse) that she'd hung on a lanyard around her neck under the leotard.

"I've really botched it this time, haven't I, Corn? Even though you helped me so much…" she whispered, running her thumbs over the rock's smooth surface.

She really had fought with herself all week, sometimes even screaming into her pillow in frustration—she'd wanted to ask for his opinion so badly, but had resisted, telling herself that she had to do this on her own this time…

But, even if she had a disease, there was no good excuse for not taking her job seriously. Even if she wanted to be cured, she didn't want to lose Tsuruga-san's respect. Now it had cost her something she had desperately wanted, and it was all because of her stupid heart. Even when she was running away from the abominable emotion, it still managed to make her a fool.

She turned her head to that she could see the light coming through the partially undone zipper and balanced Corn on her nose (her arms were too weak to hold it up) finding a little comfort from the bits of warm-colored light that filtered through the blue.

"…Kaya wouldn't have let her fear of her own feelings get in her way, would she, Corn?" Kyoko mused, letting the stone fall from her nose back into her palm as she relaxed her neck. _She would have serenely and bravely accepted them, choosing to do what she felt was good and right in spite of her fear and whatever pain or difficulty might arise…_

She tucked her hand under her cheek, feeling the flat of the stone against her face. _And Kaya isn't a stranger to rejection, either. She gets rejected all the time, just because people fear what is different… she would do what she needed to do to forgive gracefully and move on._

Taking refuge in that strangely and serenely strong spirit of Kaya's, Kyoko gently pulled herself out of the chicken suit, being more patient and compassionate with her own body than she ever would have been as herself as she slowly guided it through the process of changing back into her clothes and walking her bike home.

* * *

Mary checked in at the front desk of LME that Saturday afternoon, politely refusing the offer of tinted shades this time. She had the feeling that she'd be seeing a lot of that blinding color in the near future, so it wouldn't do any good to put off acclimatizing herself to it.

It was her third trip to the LoveME lounge, and by now she knew the way herself. When there was no answer to her knock, she hesitantly opened the door, squinting when that horrendous hue greeted her a little too brightly for her tastes. She blinked forcefully and bravely stepped within, taking a seat at the table, pulling out her notes as she settled in for the wait, glad for something else to focus her eyes on.

She'd had an explosion of inspiration the night before, and had been up till the wee hours of the morning scribbling and sketching furiously. It happened now and again, especially since she did some of her best thinking in the quiet hours of the night, so Mundy wasn't too alarmed. What _had_ alarmed him, apparently, was the question she had calmly asked over breakfast (which she ate at noon).

"Is it alright if I take the contract over for Kyouko-san to sign today?"

Apparently, Mundy hadn't had the same reaction to Kyouko's performance as she had.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

Mary looked up in surprise at the girl standing in the doorway, dark eyes cold and unwelcoming. Unsure of what it was that had LoveME #2 in such a foul mood (the thought briefly crossed her mind that it might be a natural side effect of wearing that jumpsuit), she decided the proper thing to do was to ask. "Kotonami-san—is something wrong?"

The long-haired teenager folded her arms over her pink-clad chest, the mop she was holding tucked into the crook of her elbow. "I get that you're big in our world—but the very _least_ you could have done was let her finish her performance, especially since you came to invite her to the audition _personally."_

Mary blinked several times as what the girl said sunk in, and then she inhaled sharply as something occurred to her rather belatedly.

_Was Mundy not the only one that read me wrong?_

Well. It was a good thing she'd been too impatient to deliver the news to wait until Monday, after all.

To answer Kotonami's complaint… "We cut the audition short because we didn't need to see any more."

The girl gaped at her in disbelief, mop clattering to the floor, forgotten, as her arms unfolded "Do you have _any_ idea how much work she put into that part?"

Mary slid her satchel strap from her shoulder and set it down under her seat, a small, wry smile on her lips. She wondered if all of Kotonami's distant behavior with Kyouko was an act—she actually seemed to really care about her comrade in pink. "Just the right amount, I imagine."

Outrage faded to confusion as Kotonami stiffly walked further into the room, bent to pick up the dejected mop and prop it up against the wall, and turned back to Mary, her face pinched in distrust and suspicion. "Then why didn't you…"

"Because I already knew she was perfect for it—I didn't need to see her dance. Even if she has two left feet, I'd still want her to play that part," Mary explained. "Besides, I could tell just from the way she was _standing_ that dancing isn't going to be a problem for her. I didn't need to see any more."

Kotonami stared blankly for a long moment before collapsing into the nearest seat with a sigh of extreme exasperation. "So it was just a misunderstanding? I ate that ice-cream for nothing? Really—couldn't you have at least let her know that you didn't _hate _her performance?"

Mary smiled a little sheepishly at the youth "Honestly…it took us a bit to recover from the shock, and even Mundy took some convincing—I guess he never really did understand the complexity and _struggle _the character goes through under all the gentleness…"

She blinked, drawing herself back into the present. "By the way, where is Kyouko-san now?"

Kotonami rolled her eyes. "Probably still at dance class saying her final farewells."

"…Is that nearby?"

* * *

_Bang!_

_"_Kaminari-sensei!"

The entire dance office stopped to stare as Sayuri Wakana—who was generally believed to be a very collected and professional young woman—slammed the door open and marched across the room, eyes blazing dangerously, a very frightened pink-suited girl in tow. Rina Kaminari tried not to betray just how startled she was, but the fact that the papers she had been holding were slowly slipping from her grasp was evidence enough.

"Is something wrong, Wakana?"

The young student-teacher stood before Rina's desk stiffly, her expression tightly controlled in a rather ineffective calm mask. "Mogami says she wants to drop my class."

Rina blinked, recovering enough from the initial startle to lift a brow at the hunched frame of the girl behind Wakana. The girl's posture was usually immaculate—something was certainly wrong, and it didn't look like it was just sheer fickleness. She rescued her escaped paperwork and straightened it neatly.

"Lift your head and pull your shoulders back, Mogami—moping doesn't give you the right to assault my eyes with such graceless behavior."

The child corrected her posture in a motion that reminded Rina of a salute, her face pale, as if she were standing before a firing squad.

"I take it you didn't get the part."

Though her posture did not wilt, she flinched, and her expression waivered, the air about her seeming to become a few shades darker and thicker. Rina blinked, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her while the girl bent at a near ninety-degree angle. When she spoke, it sounded like her toneless voice drifted up from some bottomless abyss. "Thank you, Kaminari-sensei, for having taken care of me so diligently these past two weeks."

Rina sighed irritably.

"So your first prospective dancing role fell through…." She leaned back in her chair as she eyed the bent girl who looked like she was prepared to be drawn and quartered at any moment. She sighed again, massaging an aching temple as she glanced briefly at Wakana. The livid young woman seemed just about ready to fetch the horses for it, too. "Are you really so arrogant as to think that our craft can't possibly benefit you now, or at any future date?"

Mogami blanched, her eyes growing wide in alarm as she lifted her head sharply.

"You're already signed on for a six-week course—if you quit now, I won't be taking you back next time."

"But…Sensei…I didn't even get to show them what I've learned…" her already swollen eyes began water. She looked about ready to break down "…aren't you angry with me, too?"

"What roles you get—or _don't_ get—are none of our affair," She snapped coldly. "Strength of heart transcends such lowly matters. If you want to insult Art by subjecting it to such petty restrictions, do it elsewhere."

"I heartily agree with Kaminari-sensei," Wakana choked out stiffly, looking as if she was relieved that Rina had put words to her own thoughts in a coherent manner. "Quitting for a reason like that goes beyond being stupid and offensive—I haven't put all this work into you to be _flung_ aside just because of _one_ measly failed audition! I demand an apology for your having even _insinuated_ such a ridiculous thing."

Mogami stood blinking at Wakana, in a classic deer-in-the-headlights manner, for a prolonged moment as the entire dance office seemed to hold its breath to see how the famous member of the eccentric pink-suited trio would react now.

The answer came when the girl promptly collapsed in a fit of rather hysterical tears, lowering herself into a dogeza with alarming enthusiasm. A great deal of relieved laughter and sniffles were mixed in with the words, making them a little difficult to understand, but the general idea was clear enough—apparently Mogami hadn't wanted to drop the class at all, and was more than grateful to apologize for having thought she was supposed to. Rina had to physically muffle her own laughter at the bewildered confusion written all over Wakana's face.

She watched in amusement as her flustered young trainee pulled her charge up off the floor and herded her back into the dance studio, using a mask of anger to cover up her embarrassment with threats of a gruesome training session to come as punishment for having wasted Rina's time.

It looked like Wakana wasn't going to lose her project, after all.

* * *

[My chapters are taking a bit longer to write now (they also are becoming a bit longer in general, so I guess that makes sense…), but I do feel like I'm able to write a little better now, and I want to thank you guys for helping me with that—I'm having so much fun! Please continue to feel free to give me writing advice and pointers…I'm finding that once I figure out how to apply them, they really do eventually serve to increase my confidence. Thank you so much!]

[Oh—a question: I don't know if it's just because I'm not a guy, or if I'm too afraid that I'm doing it wrong to do it right, but I don't have a lot of confidence when it comes to writing from Ren's point of view. I'm going to go back to the original work and do a bit more study… it could very well be that my own wishy-washiness and lack of self-assurance is giving _him_ the wishy-washiness and lack of self-assurance that is annoying me… does anybody have any helpful advice?]

[As always, if anything strikes you as confusing or wrong, please feel free to tell me! Thank you for reading!]


	7. Trials of Patience and Pouncing Tigers

_'Skip Beat!'_ and its original characters are the property of none other than the marvelous Yoshiki Nakamura (As is the new coverart image—Chapter 199's _Killed by the Death God_)

Chapter 7: Trials of Patience and Pouncing Tigers

Now, Mary was a writer, so she could _create_ characters…but she didn't have the ability to cast herself aside and _live_ as them. It was a talent that she really admired in actors.

As she watched Rina Kaminari's dance class that afternoon, she found herself thinking that Kyoko Mogami was just the sort of actress she loved working with the most. Though she apparently left the studio under the false impression that she didn't get the part, here she was, _living_ as Kaya in her own everyday life. It almost brought tears of joy to Mary's eyes.

This girl might love her character as much as she did.

"She's an odd one, isn't she?"

Mary nearly jumped out of her skin as she spun to glare at LME's famous green-eyed dance instructor.

"Rina—you scared me!"

"That's what you get for skulking around," the older woman replied sternly, joining Mary at the giant one-way window that looked from the dance office into the studio. "Why are you here, Mary?"

She caught the disapproval in Rina's voice and frowned. "You're mad at me, too?"

Rina lifted a disdainful graying brow "Should I be? You know I hate favoritism."

"Yeah, yeah…" Mary rolled her eyes, adjusting the strap of her new satchel as she transferred her weight to another foot (She could hardly keep still—she was tempted to risk all of Rina's wrath and just interrupt the class so she could tell Kyouko the good news. She always had been somewhat impatient and excitable when it came to her projects…) "…I tell Mundy the same thing all the time, and he doesn't believe me, either."

Rina snorted. Mary smiled.

"Do you think she has promise?"

"She has an impressive imagination and knack for absorbing physical data—as well as being a determined perfectionist," Rina answered, her sharp gaze warm with approval, but narrowed a bit in wry concern "I'd say she's promising enough to spoil my trainee."

Mary blinked. "That's really something, coming from a dancing demon like you."

Rina shrugged gracefully. "Acting often attracts people with a high awareness of themselves and their bodies—it isn't that abnormal … … Though, with her learning speed, and the way she brings her character into the classroom, she reminds me a lot of Hizuri."

Mary's eyes widened slightly. The significance of the comparison was not lost on her—she and Mundy had worked with Kuu Hizuri a little in America, so Mary had a healthy admiration and respect for the man…and Rina was most famous for having taught him to dance for his performances in '_Savanah Starlight'_ twenty years ago.

They watched the child in companionable silence as the young woman with her—the aforementioned 'trainee' she imagined…a tall girl with short, black hair that framed her face prettily and dark eyes—demonstrated a series of simple controlled movements, which Kyouko imitated almost perfectly on the first try, Kaya's own distinct poise coming through strongly. The young woman nodded sharply in approval, correcting a few things that were out of line in the technique, and led Kyouko through the movement again. This time the two moved in perfect synchronization.

Kaya's eyes (and Mary knew it was Kaya) were as intense as she had ever seen them, lit with contained inner fire as she moved. The blind, unfocused aspect of the gaze only served to accentuate the feeling, made you feel as if part of her were not really quite here with you; but instead lost in another dimension of grace and power… Though her movements were still characterized by that special gentleness, you got the feeling from the precision and focus of them that there was something wild hidden underneath that was being restrained. It was exactly as Kaya should be while she danced—hinting at the strength, passion, and potential for violence that she usually kept so well hidden in everything else she did.

It gave Mary goose-bumps. Seeing this, she wished that they had allowed Kyouko to complete the second half of the interview. If she was like this doing simple exercises, what would she be like when she actually performed something?

"…So you know she's in character?" Mary asked, hoping to distract herself from her own impatience as she shifted her weight again. Rina's look of elegant distain was enough for her to forget about it for a bit. She lifted her hands up in a small gesture of mock surrender and laughed. "Alright—that was a stupid question."

"I'm glad you can see that." Rina said dryly. They watched Kyouko go through the newly mastered movements on her own before she spoke again "…She usually practices with a blindfold on during the last half hour of class. She was starting to make some good progress with it—"

"She got the part."

Rina turned to eye her narrowly. "Then what were all the hysterics about?"

"Apparently there was a misunderstanding."

"Hm." She stared at Mary for another long moment. "I trust you'll clear that up properly."

"That's why I'm here."

"Good," Rina nodded sharply and turned away from the window, headed for her desk. "What kind of dancing does this new series of yours involve?"

Mary followed behind her, glad to have something to distract herself from her itchy disruptive impulses that actually had to do with her project. "A little bit of everything—traditional dances, a good bit of ballroom, a freestyle that's a bit of a mix between modern dance and rhythmic gymnastics, and even a bit street dancing…"

She fidgeted slightly as Rina took a seat and waited for Mary to continue. "…There will be a few scenes in the series where her dancing style becomes very … aggressive. We might be able to find a suitable stunt double for some of it, but…"

Rina nodded, taking a small stack of files from her cabinet. "I'll have Wakana put her through the diversity wringer once we've finished polishing her base, and she'll probably be more than happy to lend her assistance to whatever choreographers you'll have working with Mogami. In fact…once she hears about it, she might very well demand to be involved, by the looks of it."

Mary grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet happily. She assumed this 'Wakana' was the tall girl working with Kyouko, and she was happy that the girl seemed to have Rina's approval as Kyouko's instructor—if Rina approved, then it meant that this 'Wakana' was serious about dancing and up to the task.

_This is so exciting!_

If they were alone, she might have done a victory dance, but she restrained herself admirably. "You really are _the_ _best_, Rina."

Rina gave an exasperated snort and picked up her desk phone. "If you are hoping that I'll give you permission to interrupt my class, then you are wasting your time. If you can't wait patiently, go do something else to distract yourself."

Mary winced. Rina had seen right through her. She sighed, chuckling a little as she tugged off her hat and ran her fingers though her hair. That _had_ been a rather vain hope. "Alright, alright… I'll be patient."

After a moment of thought, she settled into a chair along the wall behind Rina's desk and dug into her satchel for her sketchbook, turning to the section she'd dedicated to 'Kaya'. After seeing Kyouko's performance yesterday, she'd pulled out her drawings and made some revisions (along with all those notes in the middle of the night). She often found that sketching out her characters helped give her notes life. Seeing 'Kaya' in the flesh had a similar effect, and brought an even brighter clarity to her sketches as well.

As much as she trusted her own creative genius, she also trusted her ability to recognize good ideas from other sources. She wasn't particularly fond of small-talk, or crowds, but she found that brainstorming with the other artists involved (who shared her passion in bringing new characters and worlds to life) created an empowering and exciting synergic energy that was fun…and rather addictive.

She had the feeling that Kyouko was going to be one of the people that she'd be bouncing around ideas with a lot, and it really tickled her that it was the girl who'd be playing Kaya… Though Kaya wasn't _the_ main character of the series, she was certainly a pivotal member of the main cast—as a member of the 'Peacekeepers', and as a factor that influences the other characters.

For the most part, '_The Peacekeepers'_ would follow Agent Takeshi Kazuo and his new partner—who are assigned to form and head the new generation of a covert government agency (called the 'Peacekeepers') after the previous generation was wiped out (ominous? yes). In the beginning, the brilliant Emiko Tatsuyoshi—Kazuo's new partner—seems to be adjusting well to their new work and very unperturbed in the face of the bizarre… that is, until she and Kazuo cross paths with Kaya and Aki in the middle of a job.

We learn shortly after the introduction of Kaya that she is Emiko's little sister, who mysteriously vanished—along with Emiko's terminal heart disease—eight years previous. It was a '_coincidence_' that had haunted and driven Emiko ever since. She gave up her musical career (and the approval of her family) in favor of applying her considerable intelligence to researching and tracking supernatural disturbances, paying her bills with the money she earned writing articles on the supernatural for a small magazine, hoping that she'd eventually find her sister… By the time the government had recruited her as a 'Peacekeeper', eight years later, she'd all but given up hope.

Through the complex and strained relationship between the sisters we (and Agent Kazuo) come to a much better understanding of what Emiko is really like under the armor she wears.

Also, Kaya's ambiguous, unclassified status between human and mythic, her gentle but determined nature, and her connection to a powerful immortal make her a useful ally for the Peacekeepers—she ends up playing the role of mediator between humanity and the supernatural world often enough (and even more often between the members of the department itself) during the series to say she's the Peacekeepers' main 'peacekeeper'.

And the relationship between her and the immortal 'Aki' was one that would _begin_ looking fairly straightforward, but would be revealed over the course of the series to be quite the opposite… in what had the potential to be the most poignant and compelling romance Mundy and Mary had brought to life yet.

Yes—'Kaya' was certainly a big part of this project.

She sighed, flipping to the next page of her sketchbook. It was important that her relationship with Aki be misunderstood at first—so Aki would actually spend the majority of the time in the guise of a human child. Mary was pretty sure who she wanted to play his child form, too…but Aki's adult human form was proving to be much more elusive and frustrating…

She wanted someone with an almost overwhelming presence and a very strong scent of the otherworldly… someone who could convincingly play the part of a god that had been darkened by betrayal and labeled a demon by humanity.

The most likely of the candidates certainly had a bit of the '_otherworldly_' about him, but whether he had the acting ability to express the emotional depth of such a powerful and misunderstood being with his heart in such fragile hands (both literally and figuratively) …and also keep pace with an actress like Kyouko…was yet to be determined—and Mary had her doubts.

If she couldn't find a cast that could support each other in the needed ways to reach brilliance, she'd have to reign in the brilliance of those who could for the sake of those who couldn't—sacrificing the impact of individuals in order to preserve the artistic continuity and structural integrity of the whole project.

Since Mary _really_ didn't want to have to do that, she'd have to be very thorough and selective in her search. Kyouko's intensity and ability to firmly grasp the supernatural aspect of her character had raised the bar, and now Mary had to find actors and actresses who could meet that new standard.

A flash of curiosity lifted Mary's head from the task of supervising her hand as it doodled a myriad of question marks on the blank page.

"Rina…" she turned in her seat to look at the elder woman, who was currently updating student records and notes, by the looks of it. "…What kind of impact has Kyouko-san's characterization had on your other students?"

Rina crisply tapped the papers in her hands on her desk to straighten them. "This has been the meekest beginner's class I've had in years."

"So…she has calming influence on the other students?"

Rina's green eyes narrowed slightly as she stapled the packet "You could say that, yes—but I also think that many of them feel a little uneasy around her. With your creative mind I'm sure you'll have no trouble understanding why."

Mary pursed her lips in an effort to keep a rather evil grin from making an appearance. "She does give off the feel of something a touch unearthly, doesn't she?"

"That is one way to put it," Rina answered dryly, opening another drawer in her file cabinet to insert her newly updated file. "But, in another sense, Mogami's approach to her character's style of movement makes gives a very natural feel, though not particularly normal."

"Sort of animalistic?"

Rina paused briefly "… I suppose… but I don't think that quite explains it, either."

"Elemental?"

Rina started scribbling something on a sticky note in another file "…Wakana has told me that Mogami pictures herself as a plant when she practices blind-folded, imagining that her connections to the ground are secured by roots. Apparently it gives her the confidence she needs to make progress with it."

…_That's a rather interesting thought…_ Mary shifted in her seat a bit, and remembered something else.

"Rina—did Wakana-san happen to mention what Kyouko-san imagines when she's looking at people?"

Rina paused slightly in the reading of a form, her eyes taking on an amused glint. She knew what Mary was referring to. "She hasn't, but it plays a big factor in the discomfort the other students experience around her, I'm sure. As does her voice."

Mary nodded. Sasaki, their casting director, was generally a very composed and businesslike man—but he had been clearly flustered by Kyouko's interview, and had taken a while to get his usual composure back afterwards (as did many of the producers). Kyouko's 'Kaya' was open in her movement and expressions in a way that made the people around her feel like they were seeing a lot about her without her having to say a word—even though _she_ was the one that could actually see into hearts.

And when she _did_ open her mouth, with that voice that was bizarrely gentle and almost hypnotic in resonance (almost like it emitted alpha waves or something)—combined with those disconcertingly tender eyes—you felt like she could say even the most confrontational, offensive things and still not come off as being confrontational or offensive.

Mary got giddy just thinking about it—a Kaya like that had _so_ many possibilities!

"Class has ended, Mary—you can go talk to Mogami now."

* * *

Ren Tsuruga pocketed his keys as he climbed out of his car and shut his door quietly. It was eight-thirty in the evening, and the parking garage was starting to look a little sparse as more people started to trickle out. He heard Yashiro's door shut behind him.

"I have some paperwork and calls to make before I'm ready to head out." Yashiro said as he rounded the car, eyeing Ren with a speaking gaze as he stopped beside him. "Why don't you find ~_something interesting~_ to do around here while I finish those?"

Ren watched him scurry off with a lifted brow. His manager was really about as subtle as the President at times.

However—he had a point. Ren was finished avoiding this, anyway.

He smiled with his usual gentlemanly charm as he made his way from the garage, through the lobby, and around a corner, greeting and nodding where he ought.

After yesterday's chat with 'The Chicken', which had allowed him a little much needed unwinding (though it was at The Chicken's expense), he'd been better able to take an emotional step back and regain a little perspective.

This wasn't the first time she had blown things to absurd proportions—and she was humble enough to actually consider it if he told her she had done so… If he did it right, she'd eventually get angry and scold him for his so-called 'indecent playboy ways' and that would be that. They'd be back to where they were before. This was not anything to get depressed about.

He paused on the doorstep of the LoveME lounge.

_…not anything to get depressed about…_

Well… What more did he expect from her? That her allergy to anything love-related would take a hike and she would suddenly start asking herself the right questions about his behavior? Knowing her, she'd chop up his intentions neatly and chuck them in a meat grinder without even realizing what they were. She was good at that sort of blithe ignorance and misconstruction to the point of it being uncanny—allowing himself to harbor hopes where LoveME #1 was concerned was just asking to be merrily butchered.

Going back to the way they were before was better than where they were now, at least. The way she'd looked at him last time made him feel the Reaper—it was not a pleasant feeling to know that the girl you loved was afraid of you.

After a brief glance at the ceiling he knocked on the door.

There was no answer. He knocked again.

Though Ren knew Yashiro kept tabs on Mogami's schedule (he _had_ to—that or he had a tracking device on her) it didn't necessarily mean that she had to be here. Schedules change, LoveME requests show up…

Ren let himself in, since the door was unlocked (He still had some time before Yashiro's excuses ran out, and it might keep Yashiro off his case for a bit if he saw that Ren had at least made an effort to see her)… and stilled.

Mogami was sitting at the table in a pink chair, her back to him, posture as upright as ever…though it seemed a bit brittle to him for some reason.

_Did she not hear my knock?_ It wouldn't be the first time. He dismissed the idea that she'd known it was him and had ignored it on purpose in hopes that he'd go away—that was just being paranoid.

"Mogami-san?"

She didn't run away, she didn't scream, she didn't cower or apologize, or even shiver—all things she had done before after he'd done something stupid ('honest' in Tsuruga speak). In fact… she didn't do anything. It was as if she hadn't even heard him.

He crossed over the threshold to the LoveME room and took a few silent steps toward her, leaning forward so that he could see her face.

She didn't look upset. Just… absent. Somewhere else.

Even though he knew she'd probably not be happy to see him when she came back from wherever she was, he felt some of the tension that had slowly been coiling inside him all week gradually release at the sight of her…even though that sight wasn't particularly pretty.

She'd cried at some point in the last twenty-four hours, probably some of it last night—the skin around her eyes was a bit inflamed, and there was a darker tint to it and a tiredness in them that suggested a lack of sleep. He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but she looked a bit drawn and a little thinner, like she might have lost weight since he saw her last. Her clothes didn't really help much with that look—she was wearing a full-bodied black leotard and matching black sleeveless sweater, which paled out her skin a bit and certainly made her limbs look skinnier.

He supposed she still looked pretty, in a fragile sort of sense (aside from the puffy eyes). But it didn't look healthy, and it didn't look like Mogami, and that worried Ren.

_I really hope this isn't my fault…_

He frowned. It wasn't very likely that Mogami thought about him enough while he wasn't around to look like this because of him. It had to be because of something that had happened after he saw her last.

He noticed that there was a thin booklet—a script, by the looks of it—on the table in front of her that her fingers were clinging to as her elbows hung off the table. He took a step closer to read what it said.

'_The Peacekeepers'_

Her fingers were covering what lay under the title, so he reached out and started sliding it out from under them so he could read the rest.

The movement seemed to jolt her from whatever world her mind had been wandering in, and she turned to look up at him blankly. He smiled, ready for the worst.

What he got was not what he had expected.

Her eyes locked on him and widened…and then _brightened,_ as if she were actually _glad_ to see him. He took a startled step back as she turned on him and leapt to her feet, her cheeks flushed and her smile blissfully happy, the script held up for him to see and given an emphatic shake as she trembled with excitement. When she spoke, her voice was bright with giddy laughter and a bit of joyful disbelief, as if she was saying it to herself at the same time as she was shouting it at him.

"_I GOT THE PART!"_

It was in moments like this that Ren was desperately grateful that he was an actor. For one, he managed _not_ to look like a tiger had pounced on him out of nowhere, and two, he was able to keep himself from doing something _very_ 'stupid' at the sight of her looking at him like that—as if there was no one she wanted to share this with more than him.

He didn't know what she was talking about, but she sure was happy about it, and it was doing catastrophic damage to his reasoning capabilities.

Her smile slowly faltered as she seemed to realize what she was doing, and the brain that had momentarily gone on strike at the dangerous outburst returned as he realized that she might not have really known it was him she was talking to…and that it was very likely that the reaction he had prepared for was going to happen now.

As he feared, she paled, her eyes widening in horror as the script in her hands slapped her in the face forcefully, making a rather belated attempt at gagging her.

It occurred to Ren that this expression was slightly off—rather than it being one of hopeless despair in the face of impending death, or even of mortification or awkwardness over what had happened between them, it looked more like the expectation of a disaster to come. As if she had just confessed some horrible secret that she expected him to go into a rage over.

"…Mogami-san…"

She flinched, eyes pinched shut, and lifted the script to hide the rest of her face—definitely guilty behavior. His eyes narrowed.

"…You were saying?" he prompted, his voice low and quiet.

She stiffened, her small voice traveling out from behind her script.

"I…got the part… that I wanted?"

"_What_ part, Mogami-san?" He clarified. Surely she wouldn't expect him to be unhappy with her getting more work, especially work she was excited about—it had to be an aspect of the work that he would not approve of…

She peeked up at him over the top of the script, her golden-brown eyes uncertain and a little guarded. "…Kaya?"

He lifted an expectant hand, into which she hesitantly placed the script before taking a rapid step back, as if she thought he might hit her over the head with it or something similar.

He pulled one of those plastic pink chairs out from the table and sat down, opening the script to leaf through it, wondering just what he had done to give her the impression that he was such a devil. Even if there was something here he wouldn't approve of, he would never hit her for it—he'd never hit a woman in his life, and it certainly wasn't a record he wanted to break with her.

From first glance, he couldn't see anything to be unhappy about. In fact, it was quite the opposite—it was a great part in a work with a world-class director, a very popular writer, great funding, and good producers. He looked up at her where she was sitting across from him, wringing her hands nervously. "Do you know anyone else in the cast?"

"…N-no—not yet, anyway—I'm supposed to meet some potentials this coming week at the first round of callbacks… Edmunds-san wants to see how well they respond to my 'Kaya'."

"You've already signed the contract? The part is yours?"

She nodded, her cheeks pinking happily, her eyes fairly glowing as she stared at the table, lips caught between her teeth in what appeared to be an effort to control her smile.

Ren was finding it a little difficult not to smile with her—she was clearly excited about the part, and her having the part given to her before the first callbacks, as well as them requesting that she aid them in the selection of the other cast members, was a sign that she had made a _very_ favorable impression …but…

"Mogami-san… is there something you aren't telling me?"

Her expression went rigid, completely frozen as her entire frame stilled. He'd seen her do this before when she was rethinking what she had said, or trying to figure out what to do next… so the answer was obvious. There was something she wasn't telling him.

Not that he expected her to tell him _everything…_but if she was that afraid of him learning about it, then it either involved something dangerous, something immoral or immodest (both things she was very prone to feeling shame over), …or a certain musician.

He tried to reign in the anger that thought provoked—she had a knack for noticing the shifts in his temper, and he really didn't want to push her away right now.

In spite of his efforts, she flinched, burying her face in the hands folded on the table in front of her as she mumbled something into them.

He frowned. How she did it, he did not know—but his moods were apparently an open book to her, though he knew very well that he was good at disguising them (it was his profession, after all). He sighed, resisting the urge to groan.

It didn't make sense that someone so blind could be so extraordinarily perceptive at the same time.

"I didn't quite hear that, Mogami-san."

"…I didn't study."

"…What?"

Ren folded his arms on the table as Mogami's finished clarifying and lifted a brow. This 'terrible confession' had turned out to be something relatively harmless, compared to what he had thought. "So…you were so excited about creating this character that you neglected to study, and you think I should be angry with you because of this?"

"…Well…" she fidgeted guiltily. "That's the whole reason I was given time off from…you know."

"Hm." That _wa_s why she had been given time off from 'Setsu', and it was fairly consistent for Mogami to feel like she had betrayed her work by not using that time for what it was intended… "But your work as an actress comes before your work as a LoveME member—which is what your role as the sister is—I doubt the President will fault you for having used the time off for this."

Mogami blinked, her eyes clearing as she seemed to remember something. "The audition for this part was a LoveME assignment from President."

Ren smiled, leaning back in the seat as he opened the script in his hands again.

"Then there is nothing to worry about, aside from finding time to finish your exam preparation." He turned a page, reading through the first scene. There was a lot of flexibility in the script—it seemed to be specifically for the upcoming callbacks, and gave the actors a lot of room to improvise based on their interpretation of their characters. "You didn't miss much anyway—"

He glanced at the empty doorway. The hallway outside was very quiet.

"_'T.M's'_ shooting has been experiencing a few delays. I don't even have to go back until the week after next." He went back to perusing the second scene. "Your exams are this week?"

"Yes—I have exams Wednesday through Friday."

He nodded. "So…who is 'Kaya', exactly? All her lines are left blank, and her description only states her relation to 'Agent Tatsuyoshi' and a person called 'Aki'."

Ren spent the next twenty minutes contentedly listening as Mogami gushed about 'Kaya', giving him a history and a look into the character's mind, her eyes bright and alive as she dove into the character's world.

He leaned forward, resting his cheek on his palm.

It was at times like this, when the cynical shield around her heart was down, that she was most like the 'Kyoko-chan' he remembered—that boundless imagination, energy, and optimism that had drawn him to her as a child coming through loud and clear. Ready to believe that magic was real, that miracles happen, and that the impossible was possible if you only tried hard enough.

Thinking back on it, she'd really been his first love.

She had thought he was a prince—not because she knew about his father, or even anything about his life… but because she saw him, and him alone, and thought that he was magical of his own right. She had seen him, outside of his father's shadow, and saw the makings of a king.

Of course… she'd never really seen him as her '_prince_ _charming_'…

But if it meant she could open her heart and be herself with him, maybe he could keep the balance between being her '_fairy prince'_, her '_sempai_', and her '_playboy_' for a little longer.

* * *

Author's Ramble:

[Ack… this chapter was hard …for previously mentioned reasons… but I'll keep working on that.]

[Somebody pointed out that Kyoko's encounter with Fuwa was a little off—and I totally see what they were saying. Whoever you are, thank you! I went back to fix it a bit ago and (hopefully) it is more in keeping with the original and what I had intended to convey.]

[Also, special thanks to _amusingmurff,_ who caught some inconsistencies for me that allowed me to fix some problems! Thank you! I went back and altered some of the information on Kaya's sister (pretty slight changes), and hopefully this chapter offered some enlightening clarity for '_The Peacekeepers'_.]

[I'm going to start using the PM thingy more {now that I've figured out how to do that} …but I still feel like I ought to have some sort of 'acknowledgements' in the actual work, since I'm seriously learning so much from you guys…so I've decided to keep a list to share at the end, and try to keep my ramblings to mentions of changes in the work, relevant gratitude for help with that, and updates…Thank you for reading! {I don't mind multiple reviews—some people have apologized for that, and I was like…_Why?_ Reviews are great! Thank you for your support!}]


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